Tove Jansson, author, illustrator and book designer, died on June 27. She was 86.
Jansson received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966, and is best known as the creator of the Moomintrolls, a family of trolls. Her eight novels and four picture books based on the Moomins, written between 1945 and 1970, have been translated into more than 30 languages, and the characters have appeared on postage stamps and in comic strips. They spawned a television series in Japan and a theme park in the author's native Finland.
Jansson's first drawings were published when she was 15, in Gram, a Swedish-language magazine where her mother was an illustrator. Jansson was still active as an artist in her later years, and also wrote short stories and novels for adults.
She received more than 50 additional awards, including the "Order of the Smile" Polish children's award in 1975, and the title of honorary professor from Finland's president in 1995.
