Obituary: Laurent de Brunhoff, artist

Laurent de Brunhoff’s life was dedicated to an elephant king. He was just 12 when his father Jean de Brunhoff — creator of Babar the elephant — died, and when he grew up he revived the popular picture book series and made it a global success. The series has sold millions of copies worldwide, been adapted for television, and turned into several feature films. Born in Paris in 1925, Babar was a constant in de Brunhoff’s life — the character was invented during the bedtime stories his mother Cecile told him and his brother. A trained artist, de Brunhoff studied his father’s work and his illustrations faithfully mimicked Jean’s gentle, understated style. His first Babar story was published in 1946 and de Brunhoff was still writing and drawing well into the new century. His work was not without controversy, some seeing it as French colonial propaganda: de Brunhoff acknowledged some of his earlier works were "a little embarrassing" and he asked his publishers to withdraw one 1949 book. As the author and his muse matured, the books became more adventure and family-focused and appealed to readers the world over. De Brunhoff moved to the United States in the 1980s and died in his Florida home on March 22 aged 98. — Agencies