Tove's siblings also became artists: Per Olov Jansson became a photographer and Lars Jansson an author and cartoonist. Her family, part of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland, was an artistic one: her father, Viktor Jansson, was a sculptor, and her mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson, was a Swedish-born graphic designer and illustrator. Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire. Starting with the semi-autobiographical Bildhuggarens dotter (Sculptor's Daughter) in 1968, Jansson wrote six novels, including the admired Sommarboken (The Summer Book), and five books of short stories for adults. For her work as a children's writer she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966. The next two books, Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll, published in 19 respectively, were highly successful in sales, adding to sales of the first book. Jansson wrote the Moomin books for children, starting in 1945 with The Moomins and the Great Flood. She continued to work as an artist and a writer for the rest of her life. At the same time, she was writing short stories and articles for publication, as well as creating the graphics for book covers and other purposes. Her first solo art exhibition was in 1943. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and Paris. Tove Marika Jansson (Finland Swedish pronunciation: (listen) 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author.

Tove jansson illustrations