Marten Toonder (2 May 1912 – 27 July 2005) was a Dutch comic strip creator, born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. He was probably the most successful comic artist in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and had a great influence on the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...

by introducing new words and expressions. He is most famous for his series ''

Tom Puss ''Tom Puss'' (''Tom Poes'' in Dutch) is a Dutch comic strip, created by Marten Toonder. Together with Hans G. Kresse's '' Eric de Noorman'' and Pieter Kuhn's ''Kapitein Rob'' it is regarded as the Big Three of Dutch comics. ''Tom Poes'' was a t ...

'' and ''

Panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes use ...

''.

Tom Puss/Oliver B. Bumble series

In 1931 after his final exams, Marten Toonder went to Buenos Aires with his father. Here he got acquainted with the work of the well-known Argentine artist and editor

Dante Quinterno Dante Quinterno (Buenos Aires City, October 26, 1909Buenos Aires City, May 14, 2003) was an Argentine comics artist, agricultural producer, and prolific editorial businessman, famous for being the creator of the Patoruzú, Isidoro Cañones and ...

, who ran a studio producing comics. Quinterno's creations impressed him to such a degree that he decided to become an artist himself. His most famous comic series were the

(''Tom Poes'' in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

) and Oliver B. Bumble (''Olivier B. Bommel'' in Dutch) series that appeared in a Dutch newspaper from 1941–86. It has a very characteristic format. Every day there were three drawings and an accompanying text (about a book-page long). It started out as a children's cartoon, but gradually became more relevant to adults. Nowadays his texts are considered literature by some critics, and Toonder received several literary prizes for them. He invented many new words and expressions and some of those are now widely used in the

. Many personalities in his comics have their own peculiar dialect of Dutch, for instance Prlwytzkofsky language of professor Prlwytzkofsky, an innovative mixture of Dutch and German. Due to this emphasis on language play, Toonder's work is difficult to translate. His drawing style is very detailed and might be compared to '' Pogo'', with more room for background drawings, since there are no text balloons in the drawings. Apart from his eccentric use of language Toonder is also praised for satirical approach.

Personal details

Toonder was born in Rotterdam on 2 May 1912. He lived in Ireland from 1965 until the early 1990s. He was married to the cartoon artist

Phiny Dick Afine Kornélie Dik, better known as Phiny Dick (14 September 1912 - 7 August 1990) was a Dutch illustrator and writer of children's books and comics. She was the wife of Marten Toonder from 1935 until her death. Biography Afine Dik was born in ...

(1912–1990), who collaborated with her husband and on whose earlier created characters Ollie B Bumble and Tom Puss were based. In 1996, at the age of 84, he married the composer Tera de Marez Oyens, who died the same year. Together with his brother, author , he assisted his father, (Captain) Marten Toonder Sr., a seaman born in the Dutch northern province

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, to write a book about his life, in which Toonder Sr. describes many details about the closing era of professional cargo sailing, the Rotterdam Lloyd (Line to East Indies), the

Holland America Line Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operate ...

, and about pre-war

. Marten Toonder died in his sleep on 27 July 2005. The Marten Toonder Prize (award of the 'Stichting Fonds voor Beeldende kunsten, Vormgeving en Bouwkunst') was an oeuvre prize awarded from 2009 to 2013 to a cartoonist who had made a contribution to Dutch culture. An amount of € 25,000 was attached to the prize.

Bibliography in Dutch language

Tom Puss/Oliver B. Bumble series

Autobiographical material

* ''Vroeger was de aarde plat'' (1992). Amsterdam:

De Bezige Bij De Bezige Bij ("the busy bee") is one of the most important literary publishing companies in the Netherlands. History The company was founded illegally in 1943, during the German occupation of the Netherlands by ; its first publication was a poe ...

. . * ''Het geluid van bloemen'' (1993). Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij. . * ''Onder het kollende meer Doo'' (1996). Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij. . * ''Tera'' (1998). Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij. . * ''We zullen wel zien'' (2001). Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij. .

Biography

* Wim Hazeu: ''Marten Toonder Biografie'' (2012). Amsterdam:

. .

Awards

* 1982:

Stripschapprijs The Stripschapprijs is a Dutch prize awarded to comic creators for their entire body of work. It is awarded annually by the ''Stripschap'', the Dutch Society of comics fans, since 1974. The prize is non-pecuniary, but is considered the most import ...

, Netherlands * 1992:

Tollensprijs The Tollens-Fonds ("Tollens foundation)" is a Dutch organization named for poet Hendrik Tollens (1780–1856). The organization awards a notable literary prize, the Tollens Prize and till 2008 also the Jacobson Prize. Tollens Prize The Tollens Pr ...

, Netherlands * 1997: Adamson Gold Award for Lifetime Achievement,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

References

External links

BiographyToondertijd
A Dutch site for collectors of Marten Toonders stories
Bommelzolder
The one and only Toonder museum

One of Toonder's Panda stories (in Norwegian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Toonder, Marten 1912 births 2005 deaths Dutch comics artists Dutch comics writers Dutch illustrators Dutch male writers Artists from Rotterdam Dutch animators Dutch animated film producers Dutch humorists Dutch expatriates in Ireland Dutch sailors Dutch satirists Writers from Rotterdam Winners of the Stripschapsprijs