Tove Jansson was born in Helsingfors, Finland, in 1914. Her mother was a caricaturist (who designed 200 of Finland's stamps) and her father was a sculptor. She studied painting in Finland, Sweden and France, and subsequently became a painter and a book illustrator, designed strip cartoons, and painted frescoes in several public places, schools and churches.

She is the author of the 'Moominstroll' books - widely recognized as children's classics - which she started writing in 1939, using as a main character the figure of Moomin, which she had previously used as signature for her cartoons and cover designs. In 1966 she received the international biennial award of the Han Christian Andersen medal. She has also written books for adults, among them her collection of childhood memories, Sculptor's Daughter (1969).