Marcel Marlier (18 November 1930 – 18 January 2011) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

artist and illustrator. He was born in Herseaux, Belgium. When he was 16, he enrolled in decorative art at Saint-Luc de Tournai. He finished his studies in 1951 with the greatest distinction. He returned as a teacher two years later. The Belgian publisher La Procure à Namur organised a drawing contest. They were interested in finding talented artists to illustrate works for school children. Marlier won the competition. Two books resulted from this and these books guided a whole generation of Belgian children through the first few years of school, ''I Read with Michel and Nicole'' and ''I Calculate with Michel and Nicole''. Marlier's collaboration with La Procure à Namur lasted more than 25 years. Pierre Servais at

Casterman Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Brussels, Belgium. History The company was founded in 1780 by Donat-Joseph Casterman, an editor and bookseller or ...

, a Belgian publishing company, began to notice Marlier's drawings in 1951. He suggested that Marlier should illustrate a series of books for children. The result was editions of

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

' adventure books. This was followed in 1953 by illustrations for a book by Jeanne Cappe about two very similar rabbits. Marlier also took part in the Farandole series, intended for children. From 1954, Marlier illustrated the children's series ''

Martine Martine is a feminine given name and a surname. Given name * Martine Aubry (born 1950), French politician * Martine Audet (born 1961), Canadian poet * Martine Aurillac (born 1939), French politician * Martine Baay-Timmerman (born 1958), Dutch po ...

'', with the stories written by

Gilbert Delahaye Gilbert Delahaye (19 March 1923 – 6 December 1997) was a Belgian author. He is best known for the ''Martine'' books, a series of illustrated children's stories he prepared with artist Marcel Marlier. In popular culture His book, ''Marti ...

. This series spans over 50 issues and has been translated in numerous languages. In 1969 Marlier also created his own series of children's books, ''Jean-Lou and Sophie''. He died in Tournai on 18 January 2011.

References

1930 births 2011 deaths People from Mouscron Belgian artists Belgian illustrators Belgian children's writers Belgian children's book illustrators {{Belgium-writer-stub