Margaret Emily Noel Fortnum (23 December 1919 – 28 March 2016) was an English illustrator, best known for illustrating the

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

series ''

Paddington Bear Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book ''A Bear Called Paddington'' and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond, a ...

''.

Biography

Fortnum was born in England on 23 December 1919 at Harrow,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. She briefly attended Tunbridge Wells School of Art in 1939, before enlisting in the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

during World War II. While in the military she sustained serious injuries when she was run over by a truck, requiring a prolonged period of recovery. After her recovery from injury she attended the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

in London. She worked as an art teacher, painter, and textile designer before becoming a full-time book illustrator. As of 2015 she had illustrated nearly eighty books.
32windsorgardens, 08 March 2020 Fortnum's first commission was for ''Dorcas the Wooden Doll'' by Mary Fielding Moore, published in 1944. Fortnum's best-known works are her illustrations of

Michael Bond Thomas Michael Bond (13 January 1926 – 27 June 2017) was a British author. He is best known for a series of fictional stories for children, featuring the character of Paddington Bear. More than 35 million Paddington books have been sold ...

's character

.Silvey, Anita, ed., ''The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators'', Houghton Mifflin, 2002, p. 51. In 1958 she illustrated Paddington's debut the first edition of ''A Bear Called Paddington''Peggy Fortnum
Paddington.com, retrieved 13 October 2015 and her original illustrations were used by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

in its 1998 reissue of ''A Bear Called Paddington'', which celebrated the character's 40th anniversary. Although her pen-and-ink drawings of Paddington were done in black and white, some of them have been coloured by other artists, including her step-granddaughter Caroline Nuttall-Smith. One of her Paddington illustrations was used by the

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in 2006 for one in a series of first class stamps that celebrated animals from children's literature.

Personal life

Fortnum married artist and sculptor Ralph Nuttall-Smith in 1958, and he died in 1988. Fortnum resided in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England, and died in March 2016 at the age of 96. She suffered from

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

. She was survived by her two nephews, the film historian

Kevin Brownlow Kevin Brownlow (born Robert Kevin Brownlow; 2 June 1938) is a British film historian, television documentary-maker, filmmaker, author, and film editor. He is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era, having become inter ...

, and the sculptor

John Fortnum John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

References

External links

* * 1919 births 2016 deaths English illustrators British children's book illustrators People from Harrow, London British women illustrators Paddington Bear {{UK-illustrator-stub