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Illustrator Laurent de Brunhoff in 2013 with his family's creation, the elephant Babar
Photo: Anthony Behar / ddp
According to the New York Times, the French author and illustrator Laurent de Brunhoff, known for the "Babar" children's books, died in the US state of Florida at the age of 98. He died on Friday at his home in Key West, the newspaper quoted de Brunhoff's wife Phyllis Rose as saying. Accordingly, she spoke of complications after a stroke.
Laurent de Brunhoff wrote around 20 volumes of the children's book series; his father Jean had previously written seven volumes. In fact, it was Jean's mother who invented the elephant and told it to her children as a bedtime story.
The stories of the little elephant Babar have sold millions of copies and been translated into dozens of languages. Even Charles de Gaulle was a fan of elephants because they conveyed “a certain idea of France.”
In the first volume, published in 1931, Babar's mother dies when he is still a baby. The elephant escapes from the jungle to Paris, which is surprisingly nearby, where a rich old lady takes him in. He receives a middle-class education, buys his green suit and goes for joyrides in the old lady's car. Later, some of his relatives find him and take him back to his homeland, where Babar becomes the king of the elephants.
Just no drama
Laurent de Brunhoff's father created seven volumes of Babar until his death in 1937. Laurent was twelve years old at the time. When he turned 21, according to the New York Times, he decided to continue his father's work. He dedicated his entire life to it.
Babar's stories also attracted criticism, as the "New York Times" further reports: In two volumes - one by Laurent de Brunhoff, one by his father - so-called "savages", racist depictions of indigenous people, appeared. In 1960, a young editor at the publishing house where Babar was published criticized the depictions. De Brunhoff then asked that the relevant volumes no longer be published or that the racist depictions be deleted. The young editor who brought it to his attention at the time won the Nobel Prize in Literature many years later: Toni Morrison.
"Babar and I both enjoy a friendly family life," de Brunhoff wrote in 1987, according to the New York Times. "We try to avoid overdramatization. And we both believe that if we make the right, appropriate decisions, things will turn out well." He wrote that he wanted to entertain with his books, not convey messages. But one could still say that the books contained a message: "a message of non-violence." The last Babar book by de Brunhoff was published in 2017.
De Brunhoff's widow, Phyllis Rose, told the New York Times by phone: "Laurent's idea of what makes a good story is this: Something bad happens, nobody panics, and everything turns out okay in the end."
has/AFP