Adolf Born (12 June 1930 – 22 May 2016) was a Czech painter, illustrator, filmmaker and

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Abril Lamarque (1904–1999) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfre ...

, "known for his murkily-tinted pictures of bizarre fauna, and Victorian gentlemen in top hats and top coats". Schmadel, L. D., ''Dictionary of Minor Planet Names'', Sixth Revised and Enlarged Edition, Vol. 2 (

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

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, 2012)
p. 926
In recognition of his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator, Born 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 2008. His various international rewards and honors also include the Grand Prix at the International Salon of Cartoons in Montreal and the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.

Biography

Born was born in the town of

České Velenice České Velenice (, , 1938–1945: ''Gmünd III'') is a town in Jindřichův Hradec District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,700 inhabitants. It lies on the border with Austria and is adjacent to the town of Gmü ...

on the

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n side of the southern border with Austria, moving to Prague with his family in 1935. He received his visual arts education between 1949 and 1955 at the School of Applied Arts in Prague, in the Department of Caricature and Newspaper Drawing. Since the 1960s Born's works have been exhibited throughout the world. In 1966, in collaboration with

Gene Deitch Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons ...

, Born animated the first ever screen adaptation of a work by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

, '' The Hobbit!'' Initially better known to the public as a cartoonist published in magazines, censorship prompted him, from 1973 onwards, to focus more on animation and book illustrations. In 1974 Born was declared cartoonist of the year in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, and he won the Palma d'Oro at the International Festival of the Humor of Bordighera, Italy. One of the forms he specialised in was the

bookplate An , also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. Simple typographical bookplates are ...

(the "''ex libris''"), usually using colour lithography. He held over 100 exhibitions, illustrated hundreds of books, and designed many theatre sets and costumes. He was married and had one daughter. The asteroid 17806 Adolfborn, discovered by Petr Pravec at the Ondřejov Observatory, is named after him. Born died on 22 May 2016, at the age of 85.

Works

* Mach a Šebestová, a cartoon series Macourek, M., & Born
''Mach a Šebestová ve škole''
(

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...

, 1982). *Žofka a spol. *Já, Baryk *Dobrodružství, Robinson Crusoe

References

External links

Born at ArtForum
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Born, Adolf 1930 births 2016 deaths Czech children's book illustrators Czech painters Czech male painters Czech monarchists Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) People from Jindřichův Hradec District Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres