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100 years of Tove Jansson

Saturday August 9 marks 100 years since the birth of beloved Finnish artist and author Tove Jansson (1914-2001). Yle has launched an online site 'Tove Jansson 100' to commemorate her life and art. The site features documentaries, retrospectives and interviews highlighting the world-famous mother of the Moomins.

Tove Jansson kuvattuna vuonna 1956.
Tove Jansson kuvattuna vuonna 1956. Image: Reino Loppinen / Lehtikuva

Swedish-speaking Finn Tove Jansson was a versatile novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is best known as the author of the Moomin book series for children, which has been translated into over 40 languages. After the Kalevala and books by Mika Waltari, they are the most widely translated works of Finnish literature in the world.

Tove Jansson is being remembered in 2014 in many different ways. Earlier this year, The Mint of Finland issued a Tove Jansson two-euro commemorative coin, the postal service issued a Tove Jansson stamp and two new biographies were released on her life. A comprehensive exhibition of her life and art is currently showing at the Ateneum Art Museum in downtown Helsinki, until September 7.

The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle has compiled a webpage 'Tove Jansson 100' of the many film, television and radio specials that have focused on her life and her work over the years, along with links to the popular 1990 Japanese/Finnish animated Moomin TV series that brought life to the endearing characters of her popular Moomin books.

On Saturday August 9, Yle’s Swedish-language channel Fem will broadcast a special on Tove Jansson in Swedish beginning at 2:20 pm.