On Tuesday, art historian Tuula Karjalainen picked up the Lauri Jäntti Foundation prize for her book on Jansson, focusing on her lesser-known work as a serious painter. The award is worth 15,000 euros.
The book,Tove Jansson: Tee työtä ja rakasta, has a provisional English title ofThe Life and Art of Tove Jansson.
Penguin has bought the world English publication rights.
Rights have also so far been sold to publish the book in Japan, where the Moomins are immensely popular. The most widely-broadcast animated Moomin TV show was partly a Japanese production.
Karjalainen is a former director of the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art and the Helsinki Art Museum.
The jury praised her book for revealing Jansson’s life as a person and a multi-disciplinary artist in a remarkable manner. The book shows that while Jansson was known for the Moomins and her cartoons, her art work also took a fierce role in social debates, the jury said.
This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Jansson, who died in 2001.