Laurent de Brunhoff, who made Babar well-known, died at 98 | EUROtoday
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“Babar, it’s me,” he usually mentioned. Laurent de Brunhoff, the artist who made the elephant Babar well-known, died this Friday March 22 within the United States on the age of 98, stories the New York Times. After the dying of his father, the creator of the character, he continued the collection of books on the adventures of the animal for seventy years. He produced greater than fifty works.
Babar was born one evening in 1930. Laurent, 5 years outdated, and his brother Matthieu, 4 years outdated, couldn’t sleep. Their mom, Cécile de Brunhoff, then begins to inform them the story of a child elephant who fled the jungle to achieve Paris. Won over by the fable, the 2 brothers speak about it to their father the following morning. Jean de Brunhoff, artist, was additionally received over. He begins to attract a bit elephant that he names Babar. The first e book was revealed in 1931.
“A utopia and a gentle satire of human society”
Six different image books adopted, however Laurent de Brunhoff's father died of tuberculosis in 1937 on the age of 37. Laurent was solely 12 years outdated on the time. Like his father, he later studied artwork, exhibiting summary work in a gallery in Paris. At 21, he however determined to deliver Babar again to life. His first e book appeared in 1946.
“If I became a writer and artist of children's books,” wrote Laurent de Brunhoff in 1987 for the catalog which accompanied an exhibition devoted to him in Manhattan, “it is not because I had in mind to create children's books; I wanted Babar to live (or, as some would say, my father to live). I wanted to stay in his country, the world of elephants which is both a utopia and a gentle satire of human society. »
The saga has sold millions of copies all over the world. The albums have been translated into dozens of languages. According to New York Times, even Charles de Gaulle was an admirer of Laurent de Brunhoff's books. According to the General, Babar's books promoted “a certain idea of France”.
https://www.lepoint.fr/culture/laurent-de-brunhoff-qui-a-rendu-babar-celebre-est-mort-a-98-ans-23-03-2024-2555790_3.php