Lars Jansson (cartoonist) Lars Jansson (cartoonist) Lars Fredrik Jansson (8 October 1926 Helsinki – 31 July 2000 Helsinki) was a Finnish author and cartoonist. A native of Helsinki, Jansson was the son of a sculptor, Viktor Jansson, and a Swedish-born illustrator, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson. His siblings included an older sister, writer Tove Jansson, and an older brother, photographer Per Olov Jansson. In 1958, his sister assigned to him the writing of the "Moomin" comic strip, which he drew from 1961 to 1974. Between 1990 and 1992, Jansson worked with Dennis Livson to develop the concept of the "Moomin" animated series in Japan. His daughter,
Tove Jansson Flood". The next two books, "Comet in Moominland" and "Finn Family Moomintroll", published in 1946 and 1948 respectively, were highly successful in sales, adding to sales of the first book. For her work as a children's writer she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966. Starting with the semi-autobiographical "Bildhuggarens dotter" ("Sculptor's Daughter") in 1968, Jansson wrote six novels, including the admired "Sommarboken" ("The Summer Book"), and five books of short stories for adults. Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire. Her family, part of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland, was an artistic one: