BRUNHOFF DE Jean

FRENCH PAINTER AND ILLUSTRATOR ( 1899 - 1937 )

Jean de Brunhoff, born December 9, 1899, in the 14th arrondissement of Paris and died October 16, 1937, in Montana, Switzerland, was a French author and illustrator, the creator of Babar.
Biography
Jean de Brunhoff is world-renowned for his creation of the character Babar, whose first title was published by Éditions du Jardin des Modes in 1931.
Jean de Brunhoff was the son of a publisher and later printer, Maurice de Brunhoff, and Marguerite; the natural grandson of Moritz von Haber and Ida de Brunhoff, he was, according to family legend, the natural great-grandson of Oscar I, King of Sweden and Norway.
He was destined for painting, unlike his sister Cosette and his brother Michel, who gravitated toward publishing and fashion. He participated in the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon des Indépendants and exhibited in numerous Parisian galleries. He was drafted in 1917, but never went to the front. Demobilized in 1921, he studied at the Académie de la Grande-Chaumière, notably in the studio of Othon Friesz, where he rubbed shoulders with many artists.

On October 27, 1924, at the town hall of the 8th arrondissement of Paris, he married pianist Cécile Sabouraud, daughter of physician Raymond Sabouraud and Thérèse Balandier, and sister of painter Émile Sabouraud, with whom he would have three children.
Cécile loved telling stories to her sons, especially one about a small elephant pursued by hunters who takes refuge in the city. Thus was born the outline of what would become a hero of children's stories. Jean, seeing his sons' enthusiasm, brought Babar to life.

In 1936, he and Léon Chancerel wrote Une aventure de Babar for the stage. It was premiered by the Comédiens routiers with incidental music by Pierre Vellones on October 11, 1936, in Épinal, then at the Théâtre de l'Oncle Sébastien and at the 1937 World's Fair.

Jean de Brunhoff died of fulminant tuberculosis in 1937. He is buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery (Division 65) in Paris. Upon his death, his brother Michel, then working at Vogue Paris, oversaw the publication of Jean's last two Babar stories: Babar en famille and Babar et le père Noël.
These two posthumous albums, of lesser formal quality, were first serialized in the British newspaper The Daily Sketch. They were also published in the December issues of the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar. He was a regular visitor to Sainte-Maxime (Var), where the hot air balloon launch of Babar's Voyage took place. Pages 4 and 5 depict one of Sainte-Maxime's beaches. This beach is now called "La Plage des Éléphants."