Jean de Brunhoff

Jean de Brunhoff (December 9, 1899 – October 16, 1937) was a French writer and illustrator known for co-creating Babar, which first appeared in 1931. The stories were originally told to their son by his wife Cecile de Brunhoff. After its first appearance, six more titles followed authored by Jean de Brunhoff.

Brunhoff died of tuberculosis at the age of 37. After his death, Hachette bought the printing and publishing rights to the Babar series, and Jean's son, Laurent de Brunhoff, took on his late father's role of illustrating the books. The first seven Babar albums were reprinted and millions of copies were sold all around the world, but they were all abridged; they had 30 pages instead of the original 48.

De Brunhoff and his wife are buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Bibliography

* "A.B.C. of Babar". New York: Random House, 1936.
* "Babar and Father Christmas". New York: Random House, 1940.
* "Babar and His Children". New York: Random House, 1938.
* "Babar the King". New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1935.
* "The Story of Babar". New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1934.
* "The Travels of Babar". New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1934.
* "Zephir's Holidays". New York: Random House, 1937.