Get to Know the Moomins & Tove Jansson!
One of our most anticipated books this autumn is The Art of the Sea: 23 Knitwear Designs Inspired by the Moomins, a special Laine publication celebrating the beloved Moomin characters created by the Finnish author Tove Jansson (1914–2001), as well as Tove’s artistry and spirit.
For us Finns, the Moomins are everywhere: not just in books and TV shows, but also printed in everyday products from diapers to candy. Many Finns are obsessed with collecting the Moomin mugs manufactured under the Moomin Arabia brand — rare collector's items have been sold for thousands of euros! — and the life of a Finnish toddler is not complete without a visit to the Moominworld theme park in Naantali, Finland.
However, for those of you who are not as familiar with the Moomins as we are, we have compiled a few key points you should know about them and their creator!
The Life in the Moominvalley
The Moomins are the central characters in numerous books and comic strips created by Tove Jansson. The stories have also been adapted into TV shows, most notably the 1990s version animated by Telescreen Japan and sold to over 60 countries.
The Moomin stories focus on the life and adventures of the Moomin family — the kind and curious Moomintroll and his father, Moominpappa, and mother, Moominmamma — as well as the other inhabitants of Moominvalley. Some of the most notable characters are Snufkin, a philosopher and wanderer, the fiery and independent Little My, the resourceful dreamer Snorkmaiden, and the Groke, a solitary creature who seeks warmth and light.
Although the Moomins are often regarded as children’s characters, the books are also enjoyable for adults, offering multiple levels of interpretation. What we most love about the Moomin stories is their out-of-the-box thinking and quiet humour, as well as their ability to portray darker themes — such as sorrow or loneliness — in an honest, captivating and relatable way.
Tove Jansson’s selfportait with the Moomins. © Moomin CharactersTM
A Multi-Talented Artist
The first Moomin story (The Moomins and the Great Flood) was published in 1945, and the last (Moominvalley in November) in 1970. The Moomin books have been translated into over sixty languages, and Tove Jansson is the most widely read Finnish author abroad.
Tove was born to a Swedish-speaking family in Helsinki, Finland (Finland has two official languages, Finnish and Swedish, the latter spoken approximately by 5% of the population), and the Moomin books were originally written in Swedish. Tove’s parents were both artists — the graphic artist and stamp designer Signe Hammarsten Jansson, and the sculptor Viktor Jansson — and it was natural for her to follow in her parents’ footsteps. The family was bohemian, and Tove was especially close with her mother, a free-spirited woman who defied the feminine conventions of her day.
Besides being the creator of the Moomins, Tove Jansson was a multi-talented artist: a writer, a painter and a cartoonist. She studied art in Stockholm, Helsinki and Paris, and many of her paintings are displayed at the Helsinki Art Museum.
Tove Jansson painting. © Eva Konikoff
A Queer Icon
Tove Jansson has also been an important figure for the LGBTQ community. Even though Tove was a private person who mostly kept her personal life to herself, she lived openly in a same-sex relationship at a time when it was still illegal in Finland. Many Finns recall how Tove and her life partner, Tuulikki Pietilä, were the first same-sex couple to attend the prestigious President’s Independence Day reception — the most popular yearly TV event in Finland.
Tove’s gay legacy can also be found in the Moomin stories: for example, the duo Thingumy and Bob are based on Tove and her former lover, Vivica Bandler. Their original names in Swedish, Tofslan and Vifslan, match Tove and Vivica’s names and were nicknames Tove used in her letters. Gender roles in Moominvalley are also often less clearly defined, as seen in the Hemulens, who can be both masculine and feminine, yet always wear long dresses.
Tove Jansson on Klovharun. © Per Olov Jansson
Life by the Sea
You cannot discuss Tove Jansson without mentioning the sea, which was a strong presence in her life and the Moomin stories — most notably in the book Moominpappa at Sea, where Moominpappa leads his family to live on a remote lighthouse island. One of Tove’s most famous works for adults, the novel The Summer Book (published in 1972 and recently adapted into a movie starring Glenn Close) is also set on a tiny island.
Tove and Tuulikki Pietilä had a small cottage on the remote island of Klovharun in the Baltic Sea, where they spent 28 summers. In 1991, they donated the place to a local heritage association, which now rents the cottage as an artist's residence in the summer. In late July, there is also an open week, during which you can participate in a guided tour.
Tove’s fondness for the sea is also the reason why we named our book The Art of the Sea, and why the photoshoot took place on the historic fortress island of Örö in the Archipelago Sea. The photos (taken by the photographer Riikka Kantinkoski and Laine’s founder and creative director Jonna Helin) beautifully capture the essence of Tove and her work, as does the elegant knitwear.
With this book, we invite all knitters to delve into the fascinating world of Tove Jansson and the Moomins — warm, magical, and just as relevant today as it was 80 years ago when it was first created.
“I hope that knitters will find the sense of freedom the book embodies; that they enjoy the magic of the Moomins and let their imagination run free,” Jonna Helin says.
Tove Jansson in Pellinge. © Per Olov Jansson
TEXT: Maija Kangasluoma
PHOTOS: Jonna Helin, Rikka Kantinkoski, Per Olov Jansson, Eva Konikoff
Sources: moomin.com, tovejansson.com, meillakotona.fi, pellingehembygdsforening.fi.
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