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Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; 28 November 1931 – 9 February 2019) was a French artist and writer from Alsace (a French region on the French/German border).<ref name="tomiungerer.com" /><ref name="The News" /> He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the fantastic to the autobiographical. He was known for sharp social satire and witty aphorisms. Ungerer is also famous as a cartoonist and designer of political posters and film posters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Ungerer received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1998 for his "lasting contribution" as a children's illustrator.<ref name="andersen" /><ref name="ibby-ungerer" />

BiographyEdit

Ungerer was born in Strasbourg in Alsace, France,<ref name="Diogenes" /> the youngest of four children to Alice (Essler) and Theo Ungerer.<ref name="Nazis" /><ref name="Johnson" /> The family moved to Logelbach, near Colmar, after the death of Tomi's father, Theodore—an artist, engineer, and astronomical clock manufacturer—in 1936. Ungerer also lived through the German occupation of Alsace when the family home was requisitioned by the Wehrmacht.<ref name="Platthaus" /><ref name="Musées" />

As a young man, Ungerer was inspired by the illustrations appearing in The New Yorker magazine, particularly the work of Saul Steinberg.<ref name="Lambiek" /><ref name="NYT" /> In 1957, the year after he moved to the U.S., Harper & Row published his first children's book, The Mellops Go Flying, and his second, The Mellops Go Diving for Treasure; by the early 1960s he had created at least ten children's picture books with Harper, plus a few others, and had illustrated some books by other writers. He also did illustration work for publications including The New York Times, Esquire, Life, Harper's Bazaar, The Village Voice,<ref name="NYT" /> and for television during the 1960s, and began to create posters denouncing the Vietnam War.<ref name="Platthaus" />

Maurice Sendak called Moon Man (1966) "easily one of the best picture books in recent years."<ref name="Moon Man" /> After Allumette: A Fable, subtitled With Due Respect to Hans Christian Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, and the Honorable Ambrose Bierce in 1974, he ceased writing children's books, focusing instead on adult-level books, many of which concern sexuality. He eventually returned to children's literature with Flix in 1998. Ungerer donated many of the manuscripts and artwork for his early children's books to the Children's Literature Research Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia.<ref name="Birthday" />

A consistent theme in Ungerer's illustrations is his support for European construction, beginning with Franco-German reconciliation in his home region of Alsace, and in particular European values of tolerance and diversity. In 2003, he was named Ambassador for Childhood and Education by the 47-nation Council of Europe.<ref name="Guardian" />

In 2007, his home town dedicated a museum to him, the Musée Tomi Ungerer/Centre international de l’illustration.<ref name="Moon Man" />

Ungerer divided his time between Ireland, where he and his wife had moved in 1976,<ref name="Platthaus" /><ref name="Website" /> and Strasbourg.<ref name="Moon Man" /> In addition to his work as a graphic artist and 'drawer', he was also a designer, toy collector and "archivist of human absurdity."<ref name="Moon Man" />

A biographical documentary film, Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story, was produced in 2012. The film was featured at the 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival.<ref name="psiff" /> In 2015–2016, the Kunsthaus Zurich and the Museum Folkwang in Essen devoted a large exhibition to Ungerer's artistic oeuvre and in particular his collages.<ref name="Kunsthaus" /> A comprehensive book has been published by Philipp Keel from Diogenes with essays by Tobias Burg, Cathérine Hug and Thérèse Willer.<ref name="Incognito" />

Ungerer died on 9 February 2019 in Cork, Ireland, aged 87.<ref name="Diogenes" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

WorkEdit

Tomi Ungerer described himself first and foremost as a story teller and satirist. Prevalent themes in his work include political satire (such as drawings and posters against the Vietnam War and against animal cruelty), eroticism, and imaginative subjects for children's books.<ref name="Platthaus" /> Ungerer's publications are held by the German National Library, including:<ref name="DNB" />

Children's booksEdit

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  • The Mellops Go Flying (1957)
  • Mellops Go Diving for Treasure (1957)
  • Crictor (1958)
  • The Mellops Strike Oil (1958)
  • Adelaide (1959)
  • Christmas Eve at the Mellops (1960)
  • Emile (1960)
  • Rufus (1961)
  • The Three Robbers (1961)
  • Snail, Where Are You? (1962)
  • Mellops Go Spelunking (1963)
  • Flat Stanley (1964) — art by Tomi Ungerer, written by Jeff Brown
  • One, Two, Where's My Shoe? (1964)
  • Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls (1964) — art by Tomi Ungerer, poems collected by William Cole
  • Oh, What Nonsense! (1966) — art by Tomi Ungerer, edited by William Cole
  • Orlando, the Brave Vulture (1966)
  • Warwick's Three Bottles (1966) – with André Hodeir
  • Moon Man (Der Mondmann) (Diogenes Verlag, 1966)
  • Cleopatra Goes Sledding (1967) – with André Hodeir
  • What's Good for a 4-Year-Old? (1967) — art by Tomi Ungerer, text by William Cole
  • Zeralda's Ogre (1967)
  • "The Donkey Ride" (1967) — art by Tomi Ungerer, fable adapted by Jean Showalter
  • Ask Me a Question (1968)
  • The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1969) — text by Barbara Hazen
  • Oh, How Silly! (1970) — art by Tomi Ungerer, edited by William Cole
  • The Hat (1970)
  • I Am Papa Snap and These Are My Favorite No Such Stories (1971)
  • The Beast of Monsieur Racine (1971)
  • The Hut (1972)
  • Oh, That's Ridiculous! (1972) — art by Tomi Ungerer, edited by William Cole
  • No Kiss for Mother (1973)
  • Allumette; A Fable, with Due Respect to Hans Christian Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, and the Honorable Ambrose Bierce (1974)
  • A Storybook (1974) — art by Tomi Ungerer, collection of short stories adapted by various authors
  • The Great Song Book — ed. by Timothy John (1978) English version of Das grosse Liederbuch, 1975
  • Tomi Ungerer's Heidi: The Classic Novel (1997) — art by Tomi Ungerer, text by Johanna Spyri
  • Cats as Cats Can (1997)
  • Flix (1998)
  • Tortoni Tremelo the Cursed Musician (1998)
  • Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear (1999)
  • Zloty (2009)
  • Fog Island (2013)

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Adult booksEdit

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  • Horrible. An account of the Sad Achievements of Progress
  • Der Herzinfarkt (1962)
  • The Underground Sketchbook (1964)
  • The Party (1966)
  • Fornicon (1969)
  • Tomi Ungerer's Compromises (1970)
  • Poster Art of Tomi Ungerer (1972)
  • America (1974)
  • Totempole (1976)
  • Babylon (1979)
  • Cat-Hater's Handbook, Or, The Ailurophobe's Delight (1981) — co-authored by William Cole
  • Symptomatics (1982)
  • Rigor Mortis (1983)
  • Slow Agony (1983)
  • Heute hier, morgen fort (1983)
  • Far out Isn't Far Enough (1984)
  • Femme Fatale (1984)
  • Schwarzbuch (1984)
  • Joy of Frogs (1985)
  • Warteraum (1985)
  • Schutzengel der Hölle (1986)
  • Cats As Cats Can (1997)
  • Tomi: A Childhood Under the Nazis (1998)
  • Liberal Arts: The Political Art of Tomi Ungerer (1999)
  • Erotoscope (2002)
  • De père en fils (2002)

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Other worksEdit

  • Design of Dr. Strangelove film poster (1964)
  • Design of the logo for the ill-fated Broadway musical Kelly (1965)
  • Art work, poster, and titles for the film Monterey Pop (1968)
  • Design of the Janus Aqueduct in Strasbourg (1988)

AwardsEdit

The biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Ungerer received the illustration award in 1998.<ref name="andersen" /><ref name="ibby-ungerer" />

Ungerer received the 2014 Lifetime Achievement of the Year award at the Sexual Freedom Awards.<ref name="highlight" /> In 2018, he was made a commander of the Legion of Honour.<ref name="Diogenes" /><ref name="Le Monde" />

In 2007 a museum dedicated to his life and work opened in Strasbourg.<ref>https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2007/10/29/graphisme-le-dessinateur-tomi-ungerer-entre-en-son-musee-strasbourgeois_972342_3246.html</ref>

LiteratureEdit

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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