Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator, and comic strip author. She was born on 9 August 1914 and passed away on 27 June 2001. Raised by artistic parents, Jansson studied art between 1930 and 1938 in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Paris.

Jansson's first solo art exhibition was held in 1943. During this time, she also wrote short stories and articles that were published, and she created illustrations for book covers, advertisements, and postcards. Her career as both an artist and a writer continued throughout her life.

She is best known for the Moomin novel series for children, starting with The Moomins and the Great Flood in 1945. The subsequent books, Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll, published in 1946 and 1948 respectively, were highly successful. For her contributions to children's literature, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966. Among her later accolades was the Selma Lagerlöf Prize in 1992.

Jansson’s Moomin stories have been adapted for theater, cinema, and opera. She held a solo painting exhibition in 1955, and several others between 1960 and 1970. Between 1945 and 1984, she created murals for public buildings across Finland. She also illustrated classics like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Hobbit.

Her literary works for adults began with the semi-autobiographical Bildhuggarens dotter (Sculptor's Daughter) in 1968, and she went on to write six novels, including the acclaimed Sommarboken (The Summer Book), and five short story collections.