Laurent de Brunhoff, the author of “Babar,” who revitalized his father’s beloved picture book series featuring an elephant-king and oversaw its expansion into a global multimedia phenomenon, has passed away at the age of 98. De Brunhoff, a native of Paris who relocated to the United States in the 1980s, died at his residence in Key West, Florida, on Friday, March 22 following a two-week period in hospice care, as confirmed by his widow, Phyllis Rose.
At just 12 years old when his father, Jean de Brunhoff, succumbed to tuberculosis, Laurent matured into an adult who utilized his talents as both a painter and storyteller. He authored numerous books about the elephant monarch who ruled over Celesteville, including titles like “Babar at the Circus” and “Babar’s Yoga for Elephants.” While he favoured brevity in his writing compared to his father, his illustrations remained true to Jean’s gentle and subtle style.
Author Ann S. Haskell remarked in The New York Times in 1981, “Together, father and son have woven a fictive world so seamless that it is nearly impossible to detect where one stopped and the other started.”
Adieu, Babar! L’auteur et illustrateur français Laurent de #Brunhoff, mort vendredi à l’âge de 98 ans aux Etats-Unis selon les médias américains, a poursuivi avec succès les aventures de #Babar, personnage adoré des enfants du monde entier, créé en 1931 par ses parents #AFP pic.twitter.com/BM56eHfQSR
— Jean-François Guyot (@JFGuyot) March 23, 2024
The “Babar” series has achieved widespread success, selling millions of copies globally and inspiring adaptations such as a television show and animated films like “Babar: The Movie” and “Babar: King of the Elephants.” Admirers of the series included notable figures like Charles de Gaulle and Maurice Sendak, who once expressed, “If he had come my way, how I would have welcomed that little elephant and smothered him with affection.”
Regarding his creation, de Brunhoff often said, “Babar, c’est moi” (“that’s me”), explaining to National Geographic in 2014 that “he’s been my whole life, for years and years, drawing the elephant.”
Despite its popularity, the “Babar” series faced criticism from some quarters. Certain parents objected to the depiction in the debut book, “The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant,” of Babar’s mother being killed by hunters. Additionally, numerous critics labelled the series as racist and colonialist, pointing to Babar’s education in Paris and its presumed influence on his regime in Africa. In 1983, Chilean author Ariel Dorfman criticized the books as an “implicit history that justifies and rationalizes the motives behind an international situation in which some countries have everything and other countries almost nothing.”
Laurent de Brunhoff was the eldest of Jean de Brunhoff and Cecile de Brunhoff’s three sons. Babar originated from a story Cecile improvised for her children. De Brunhoff was married twice, with his most recent marriage being to the critic and biographer Phyllis Rose, who contributed text to many of the recent “Babar” publications, including the 2017 release billed as the series finale, “Babar’s Guide to Paris.” He had two children, Anne and Antoine, but he did not consciously tailor his writing for young audiences.
