埃尔莎·贝斯科夫

埃尔莎·贝斯科夫（瑞典语：Elsa Beskow，婚前姓马尔特曼（Maartman），1874年2月11日—1953年6月30日）是一位瑞典作家、儿童书籍的插画家。

埃尔莎·马尔特曼出生于瑞典斯德哥尔摩，1894年起为儿童杂志“Jultomten”编辑。1897年，她与纳塔内尔·贝斯科夫（Natanael Beskow）结婚，他是作家伊丽莎白·贝斯科夫的堂兄。她的作品以儿童绘本为主，经常取材自十九世纪末以及二十世纪初期瑞典乡村的社会风景。许多埃尔莎·贝斯科夫的作品至今被视为经典的儿童书籍。1953年，她在斯德哥尔摩去世。

Elsa Beskow (née Maartman; 11 February 1874 – 30 June 1953) was a famous Swedish author and illustrator of children's books. Among her better known books are Tale of the Little Little Old Woman and Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender.

Background

Born in Stockholm her parents were businessman Bernt Maartman (1841–1889), whose family came from Bergen, Norway, and teacher Augusta Fahlstedt (1850–1915). Beskow studied Art Education at Konstfack, University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, then called Tekniska skolan, or the Technical school, in Stockholm.

She married former minister and social worker, doctor of theology Natanael Beskow in 1897. Elsa Beskow met her future husband at Djursholms samskola while serving as a teacher where he served as head master. From 1900 they lived in Villa Ekeliden in Djursholm which had initially been built for the author Viktor Rydberg. They had six sons, including the artist Bo Beskow (1906–1989) and geologist Gunnar Beskow (1901–1991).

Career

In 1894 Beskow started to contribute to the children's magazine Jultomten. She ultimately began publishing her own books, doing both illustration and text. Overall, she would publish some forty books with her own text and images.

Beskow frequently combined reality with elements from the fairy tale world. Children meet elves or goblins, and farm animals talk with people. Central themes were the relationships between children and adults and children's independent initiative. Her work "depicted a happy home atmosphere in the Swedish countryside of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."

Beskow became one of the most well known of all Swedish children's book artists. Many of her books became classics and are continually reprinted. Beskow also illustrated ABC books and songbooks for Swedish schools. Her book pages are often framed by decorative framework of the Art Nouveau style.

Beskow received "international recognition for simple, cheerful stories and outstanding illustrations."

Legacy

The Elsa Beskow Award was created in 1958 to recognize the year's best Swedish picture book illustrator.