Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story '' The Snowman'', a book without words whose cartoon adaptation is televised and whose musical adaptation is staged every Christmas. Briggs won the 1966 and 1973 Kate Greenaway Medals from the British Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named ''

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

'' (1973) one of the top-ten winning works, which composed the ballot for a public election of the nation's favourite. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, Briggs was a runner-up for the

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". The ...

in 1984. He was a patron of the

Association of Illustrators The Association of Illustrators (AOI) is a British trade association for illustration, to advance and protect illustrators' rights. It was established in the United Kingdom in 1973. The AOI promotes and encourages commercial and ethical standards ...

Early life

Briggs was born on 18 January 1934 in Wimbledon, Surrey (now London), to Ernest Redvers Briggs (1900–1971), a milkman, and Ethel Bowyer (1895–1971), a former lady's maid-turned-housewife, who married in 1930. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he was evacuated to

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...

before returning to London at the end of the war. Briggs attended

Rutlish School Rutlish School is a state comprehensive school for boys, formerly a grammar school with the same name originally located on Rutlish Road, Merton Park, and relocated in 1957 on nearby Watery Lane, Merton Park, in southwest London. History The sc ...

, at that time a grammar school, pursued cartooning from an early age and, despite his father's attempts to discourage him from this unprofitable pursuit, attended the Wimbledon School of Art from 1949 to 1953 to study painting, and Central School of Art to study typography.Raymond Briggs
Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2009. From 1953 to 1955, he was a

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

conscript in the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield commun ...

at Catterick, where he was made a draughtsman. After this, he returned to study painting at

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

, graduating in 1957.

Career

After briefly pursuing painting, he became a professional illustrator, and soon began working in children's books. In 1958, he illustrated '' Peter and the Piskies: Cornish Folk and Fairy Tales'', a fairy tale anthology by Ruth Manning-Sanders that was published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. They would collaborate again for the ''Hamish Hamilton Book of Magical Beasts'' ( Hamilton, 1966). In 1961, Briggs began teaching illustration part-time at Brighton School of Art, which he continued until 1986; one of his students was

Chris Riddell Chris Riddell ( ) (born 13 April 1962) is a South African-born British illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the '' Observer''. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals - the British librarians' a ...

, who went on to win three Greenaway Medals. Briggs was a commended runner-up for the 1964 Kate Greenaway Medal (''Fee Fi Fo Fum'', a collection of nursery rhymes) and won the 1966 Medal for illustrating a Hamilton edition of

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howev ...

. According to a retrospective presentation by the librarians, ''The Mother Goose Treasury'' "is a collection of 408 traditional and well loved poems and nursery rhymes, illustrated with over 800 colour pictures by a young Raymond Briggs". The first three important works that Briggs both wrote and illustrated were in comics format rather than the separate text and illustrations typical of children's books; all three were published by

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half- Scot half- American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''James'' the English form – which ...

. ''

'' (1973) and its sequel ''Father Christmas Goes on Holiday'' (1975); both feature a curmudgeonly

who complains incessantly about the "blooming snow". For the former, he won his second Greenaway. Much later they were jointly adapted as a film titled ''

''. The third early Hamilton "comics" was '' Fungus the Bogeyman'' (1977), featuring a day in the life of a working class

bogeyman The Bogeyman (; also spelled boogeyman, bogyman, bogieman, boogie monster, boogieman, or boogie woogie) is a type of mythic creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearance and conceptions var ...

. '' The Snowman'' (Hamilton, 1978) was entirely wordless, and illustrated with only pencil crayons. The work was partly motivated by his previous book; Briggs wrote that "For two years I worked on ''Fungus'', buried amongst muck, slime and words, so... I wanted to do something which was clean, pleasant, fresh and wordless and quick." For that work Briggs was a Highly Commended runner-up for his third Greenaway Medal. An American edition was produced by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Ger ...

in the same year, for which Briggs won the

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and P ...

, picture book category. In 1982, it was adapted by British

TV channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, wit ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

as an animated cartoon, with a short narrated introduction by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

. It was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

in 1982, and has since been shown every year on

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

(except 1984). On Christmas Eve 2012 the 30th anniversary of the original was marked by the airing of the sequel ''

The Snowman and the Snowdog ''The Snowman and the Snowdog'' is a 2012 British animated short film. It is the sequel to '' The Snowman'', and was created to mark the 30th anniversary of the original short film. ''The Snowman and The Snowdog'' is dedicated to John Coates (th ...

''. Briggs continued to work in a similar format, but with more adult content, in ''Gentleman Jim'' (1980), a sombre look at the working class trials of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, closely based on his parents. '' When the Wind Blows'' (1982) confronted the trusting, optimistic Bloggs couple with the horror of

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear wa ...

, and was praised in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

for its timeliness and originality. The topic was inspired after Briggs watched a ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

'' documentary on nuclear contingency planning, and the dense format of the page was inspired by a Swiss publisher's miniature version of ''

''. This book was turned into a two-handed radio play with

Peter Sallis Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

in the male lead role, and subsequently an

animated film Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

, featuring

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

and Peggy Ashcroft. ''

The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman ''The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman'' (ISBN 0241113628) is a 1984 picture book, ostensibly for very young children, written and illustrated by Raymond Briggs and published by Hamish Hamilton. It satirises the Falklands War of 1 ...

'' (1984) was a denunciation of the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territori ...

Personal life

Briggs's wife Jean, who had

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wi ...

, died from

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in 1973, two years after his parents' death. They did not have any children. At the end of his life, Briggs lived in a small house in Westmeston, Sussex. His long-term partner, Liz, died in October 2015 having had

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. Briggs continued to work on writing and illustrating books. Briggs stated that he used to be a staunch supporter of the Labour Party, although he lost faith in the party under the leadership of

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the pol ...

. Briggs died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton on 9 August 2022, aged 88.

Awards and honours

Briggs won the 1992

Kurt Maschler Award The Kurt Maschler Award (1982 to 1999) was a British literary award that annually recognised one "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other." Winning authors and ill ...

, or the "Emil", both for writing and for illustrating '' The Man'', a short graphic novel featuring a boy and a homunculus. The award annually recognised one British children's book for integration of text and illustration. His

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

'' Ethel & Ernest'', which portrayed his parents' 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1999 British Book Awards. In 2016, it was turned into a hand-drawn animated film. In 2012, he was the first person to be inducted into the British Comic Awards Hall of Fame. In 2014 Briggs received the

Phoenix Picture Book Award The Phoenix Award annually recognizes one English-language children's book published twenty years earlier that did not then win a major literary award. It is named for the mythical bird phoenix that is reborn from its own ashes, signifying the bo ...

from the

Children's Literature Association The Children's Literature Association (ChLA) is a non-profit association, based in the United States, of scholars, critics, professors, students, librarians, teachers, and institutions dedicated to studying children's literature.Margaret W. Denman- ...

for ''The Bear'' (1994). The award committee stated:

With surprising page-turns, felicitous pauses, and pitch-perfect dialogue, Briggs renders the drama and humour of child–adult and child–bear relations, while questioning the nature of imagination and reality. As a picture book presented in
graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
format, Briggs's work was ground-breaking when first published and remains cutting edge twenty years later in its creative unity of text and picture.''ChLA Newsletter''
, Vol. 20, Issue 2 (Autumn 2013)]. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 2014-07-12.

The biennial

conferred by the

International Board on Books for Young People The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Briggs was one of two runners-up for the illustration award in 1984. He has also won several awards for particular works. *1966 Kate Greenaway Medal, for ''The Mother Goose Treasury'' *1973 Kate Greenaway Medal, for ''

'' *1977 Francis Williams Award for Illustration (

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...

), for ''

'' *1979

(US), for ''The Snowman'' *1979 Silver Pen Award (Netherlands) *1982 Children's Rights Workshop Other Award *1982 Francis Williams Award for Illustration, for ''The Snowman'' *1992

, for '' The Man'' *1992 Children's Author of the Year, British Book Awards *1998 Illustrated Book of the Year, British Book Awards, for '' Ethel & Ernest'' *2012 British Comic Awards Hall of Fame *2014 Phoenix Picture Book Award for ''The Bear'' * ''Fee Fi Fo Fum'' (1964) and ''The Snowman'' (1978) were Commended and Highly Commended runners-up for the Greenaway Medal. * '' Ug'' was silver runner-up for the 2001

Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and ...

. The

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

, London, holds several photographic portraits of Briggs in its permanent collection. Briggs was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to literature. A book about his life's work entitled ''Raymond Briggs: The Illustrators'' was written by Nicolette Jones and published in 2020.

Selected works

* '' Peter and the Piskies: Cornish Folk and Fairy Tales'' (1958), retold by Ruth Manning-Sanders and illustrated by Briggs * ''The Fair to Middling'' (1959), by Arthur Calder-Marshall. Rupert Hart-Davis, London * ''The Strange House'' (1961), by Briggs * ''Midnight Adventure'' (1961), by Briggs * ''Ring-a-ring o' Roses'' (1962), a collection of

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From ...

s * ''Sledges to the Rescue'' (1963), by Briggs * ''Fee Fi Fo Fum'' (1964) – a picture book of nursery rhymes * ''The Mother Goose Treasury'' ( Hamilton, 1966), from

– winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal * ''The Christmas Book'' (1968), by James Reeves * ''Shackleton's Epic Voyage'' (1969), by Michael Brown * ''Jim and the Beanstalk'' (1971), by Briggs * ''

'' (1973), by Briggs – winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal * ''Father Christmas Goes on Holiday'' (1975), by Briggs * '' Fungus the Bogeyman'' (1977), by Briggs * '' The Snowman'' (1978) * ''Gentleman Jim'' (1980), by Briggs * '' When the Wind Blows'' (1982), by Briggs * ''

'' (1984), by Briggs * '' All in a Day'' (1986), written by Mitsumasa Anno, illustrated by Anno and others * ''Unlucky Wally'' (1987) * ''Unlucky Wally 20 Years On'' (1989) * '' The Man'' (1992), by Briggs * ''The Bear'' (1994), by Briggs * '' Ethel & Ernest: A True Story'' (1998) * '' Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age'' (2001), by Briggs * ''The Adventures of Bert'', by Allan Ahlberg (2001) * ''A Bit More Bert'', by Allan Ahlberg (2002) * ''The Puddleman'' (2004) * ''Notes from the Sofa'' (2014)

Adaptations

* '' The Snowman'' (1982) * ''When the Wind Blows'' (1983) BBC radio adaptation with

and Brenda Bruce * ''When the Wind Blows'' (1983) Little Theatre, Bristol and Whitehall Theatre, London. * '' When the Wind Blows'' (1986) film adaptation with Peggy Ashcroft and

* ''

'' (1991) * '' The Bear'' (1998) * '' Ivor the Invisible'' (2001) * '' Fungus the Bogeyman'' (2004) * ''Gentleman Jim'' (2008) BBC radio adaptation * ''

'' Stage adaptation by Pins and Needles Productions at the

Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

, 2012 * '' Fungus the Bogeyman'' (2015) A 3-part television adaptation, featuring Timothy Spall and Victoria Wood shown on

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

in December 2015. * '' Ethel & Ernest'' (2016)

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* * *
"Panel Borders: The Work of Raymond Briggs"
radio interview broadcast 8 January 2009 (audio)
Search Raymond Briggs
at '' Kirkus Reviews''
Articles on Raymond Briggs
at

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During thi ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Raymond 1934 births 2022 deaths 20th-century British Army personnel 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English novelists Alumni of Wimbledon College of Arts Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art British Book Award winners Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from pneumonia in England English children's book illustrators English children's writers English comics artists English graphic novelists English illustrators Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Kate Greenaway Medal winners People educated at Rutlish School People from Lewes District People from Wimbledon, London Royal Corps of Signals soldiers Writers who illustrated their own writing