Tove Jansson: creator of the Moomins and Finnish icon

Best known as the creator of the Moomins, the illustrator Tove Jansson is a national icon in Finland. The “Mummy of the Moomins” encountered fame rather late in life, and her diverse works beyond the Moomins, from political cartoons to fine art, often receive less recognition.

Celebrated by adults and adored by children, Tove Jansson was born in 1914 in Helsinki in the Swedish-speaking minority. She grew up in an artistic household, and her upbringing was steeped in creativity. Her mother was an illustrator, and her father was a sculptor, whose works can still be found in Finland’s public spaces.

Jansson trained as an artist and studied in Helsinki, Stockholm, then Paris and Rome, but left school early. At 15, she began collaborating with Garm, a satirical magazine ardently opposing fascism, nazism and communism. Jansson’s association with the magazine spanned from 1929 until the magazine’s closure in 1953, following its founder’s death.

During her tenure at Garm, Jansson shared her experience of the war and the nationalism in powerful illustrations, employing humour to expose tyranny. Three powerful caricatures are particularly remembered. One of her most memorable is her 1935 cover depicting a customer entering a toyshop looking for a doll that says “mama” and finds, to his surprise, that the shopkeeper only has dolls that say “Heil Hitler.”

In 1938, just before Winter War, Jansson drew another caricature of Hitler. The illustration, called “Den allvarsamma leken” (“The serious game”), shows Hitler on top of an explosive storage facility, playing the game “skall-skall icke-skall” (“shall I, shall I not”) with the petals of a flower.

Amongst other famous caricatures, one could have started what can be called the “tyrannical child” trope: in 1938, a drawing depicts Hitler surrounded by cakes, throwing a tantrum and screaming, “More cakes!”

Jansson’s satire extended beyond Hitler. In 1940, during the peace talks between Finland and the Soviet Union, her caricature of Stalin was censored for depicting him with an oversized sword. To pass censorship, she transformed Stalin to resemble a typical Russian soldier.

Then admired for her courageous political efforts, Tove Jansson gained notoriety by shifting to the whimsical world of the Moomins. The predecessors of these hippo-like characters with pear-shaped faces appeared in the illustrations she made of Garm from the early 1940s. The artist repeatedly drew two different characters resembling hippopotamuses: one was round with big ears, and the other was skinnier, often angry-looking, with small ears. These characters would later be called the Snorks when they appeared in the much-loved Moomins books. The Moomins themselves evolved from these early drawings of distinct hippo-like figures.

The Moomins are a series of books describing the adventures of the Moomin family and their friends, written between 1945 and 1977. Living in the Moominvalley, the Moomins, with Moominmamma, Moominpappa, and Moomintroll, always have adventures with their friends. To draw Moomintroll, Jansson used as inspiration a doodle for her younger brother's amusement and gave him an eccentric father and a loving mother. The series’ success, though belated, was phenomenal.

“The Moomins are such a big thing in Finland that it is hard to even understand,” says Jenni Leivo, who tells me she read the books almost daily for “at least” 10 years of her life.

The books’ success owes much to their complex and intimate connection with the reader, resonating with both children and the child within every adult.

“I love how the Moomins always had these wise little insights about life, along with all their exciting adventures. As a kid, I especially admired Little My for her bold attitude and Snufkin for his endless wanderings,” Jenni shares. “As I grew older, I came to realise that Jansson’s Moomins weren’t just meant for kids. Through their quirky and bohemian characters, she tackled deeper themes like loneliness and feelings of inadequacy—all in a very thoughtful and subtle way.”

Jansson’s wartime experience is evident in her work. For instance, The Moomins and the Great Flood, the first Moomin book, has a deeper level while beginning as a conventional children's tale.

“At last they came to a small valley that was more beautiful than any they had seen that day. And there, in the midst of the meadow, stood a house that almost looked like a stove, very elegant and painted blue.” Soon after the opening lines, the reader learns that the valley where the Moomin family lives is flooded, separating Moominpappa from his family.

A darker tale lurks under the surface: a story of a divided family, like the Jansson family, and one of displaced people working as a group to survive a disaster.

Jansson’s third book, Finn Family Moomintroll (1948), was her breakthrough, leading to a lucrative contract with the London Evening News in 1954. The deal required her to create six comic strips a week for seven years, using the Moomins to “satirise the so-called civilised way of life.” The deal provided financial stability to pursue painting and her goal of being recognised as a fine artist, this time far from politics, but the immense popularity of her other works and herself was being overshadowed by her own creation.

"Those damn Moomins," she wrote in her notes. "I don't want to hear about them anymore. I could vomit on the Moomintrolls."

Jansson had become a public figure, the Moomins having sold for 30 million copies worldwide and translated into 44 languages. The status that involved endless correspondence, a job almost as significant as her work as an artist. A note in her diary, in 1957, says: “I’ve poured out my feelings into Moomintroll, but he is changing. I no longer feel safe in my secret cave. It’s trapping me inside.”

After fulfilling her seven-year contract, Jansson declined its renewal, and her brother Lars (whom she called Lasse) took on the responsibility, while Jansson tried to return to writing and painting and embracing her personal life fully.

In 1956, Jansson had met a fellow artist, Tuulikki Pietilä, at a party Pietilä had organised. The love story between the two women started quickly and would last a lifetime. By living their relationship openly in a country where homosexuality was still illegal, and by being boldly herself, Jansson was growing into the status of model for a lot of Finns.

Tove Jansson and Pietilä moved to the quiet island of Klovharun, an archipelago of 6000 square meters, in 1964. For almost 20 summers they enjoyed the tranquillity of their home, far from the spotlight.

For a lot of Finns, Tove Jansson, who passed away in 2001, is remembered in Finland not only as the creator of the Moomins but as a pioneer in both her art and her personal life. Her legacy, marked by emancipation and bravery, will undoubtedly inspire generations to come.