Étienne Delessert (4 January 1941 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

– 21 April 2024 in Lakeville) was a Swiss self-taught

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

and illustrator. He is largely known for his animated series ''Yok-Yok'' and his collaboration with

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; ; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre#Avant-garde, French avant-garde th ...

, on ''Stories "1" and "2"'', as well as his work with child psychologist

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, ; ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called genetic epistemology. ...

. His work focused on expanding the child's mind through the use of strange stories often designed to make children ask questions. He considered himself first and foremost a story teller. His creative process involved mostly digital media in combination with hand sketching. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator, Delessert was a finalist for the biennial, international

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". Th ...

in both 2006 and 2010. Delessert died from cancer on 21 April 2024, at the age of 83.

Career

Delessert had children's book published and translated in over 14 different languages. He also had illustrations published in ''

TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine. Delessert animated segments for ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', like one about a woman's face morphing. Additionally, in 1973 Delessert illustrated a children's book based on the lyrics to "Being Green", a popular song written by

Joe Raposo Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH (February 8, 1937 – February 5, 1989) was an American composer and songwriter. He is best known for his work on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'', for which he wrote the theme song, and several no ...

, originally performed by

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created in 1955 and originally performed by Jim Henson. An anthropomorphic green frog, Kermit is the pragmatic everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably as the showrunner and host o ...

on both ''

'' and ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

''. Although released as a Sesame Street book, the large hardcover book does not feature Kermit the Frog or other characters from the series. Rather, the song's lyrics are enacted by an undefined, dinosaur-like being. The illustrations also do not feature any other traditional Sesame Street characters and are of a psychedelic nature. The book has been out of print since 1973. He also created the animated series

Yok Yok ''Yok-Yok'' is the title of a children's TV animation created by Swiss/American illustrator Étienne Delessert for the Swiss Television. A series of comic strip books was adapted from the films and published by Gallimard Jeunesse in 1979, follo ...

for Swiss television.

Published Works

* ''How the Mouse Was Hit on the Head by a Stone and So Discovered the World'', 1971 with Jean Piaget * ''Ogden Nash's Zoo'', 1987 with

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his Light poetry, light verse, of which he wrote more than 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyme, rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York T ...

* ''Food'', 1989 with

* ''Silly Stories 1, 2, 3, 4'' with Eugene Ionesco * and Jean Piaget (''How The Mouse...''), to his more recent award-winning ''A Long Long Song''; ''Ashes, Ashes''; ''Dance!''; ''The Seven Dwarfs''; ''Who Killed Cock Robin?''; ''Humpty Dumpty''; ''Big and Bad'' * ''The Seven Dwarfs,'' 2002 * ''Moon Theater'', 2009 * Night Circus, 2015

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delessert, Etienne 1941 births 2024 deaths Swiss children's book illustrators Swiss graphic designers Swiss magazine illustrators 20th-century Swiss illustrators 21st-century Swiss illustrators Deaths from cancer in Connecticut Artists from Lausanne Swiss animators Television show creators