The Finnish artist and author Tove Jansson (1914-2001) wrote and illustrated her first Moomin story, The Moomins and the Great Flood, in 1945 as a form of escape from the dark shadows of war. The Memoirs of Moominpappa, published in 1950, was the third novel of the world famous Moomin series the eight titles of which would be translated into over 60 languages and remain in print for over six decades. Tove Jansson lived in Helsinki and a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland which she shared with her life partner, the graphic artist, Tuulikki Pietilä.