Sophia Jansson-Zambra
Encyclopedia
Sophia Jansson is the daughter of cartoonist Lars Jansson and the niece of the famous Finnish
writer and painter Tove Jansson
. Jansson has worked as a Spanish language
teacher
, creative/artistic director
, chairman, and majority shareholder
of Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd., and provided direct oversight together with her father for the 1990 Moomin animated series.
. As Tove's efforts became directed more at writing and the strip's production became more the effort of her father, Jansson became an active help in management of the visual aspects of Moomin
as an intellectual property.
In 1979, Lars Jansson founded the limited liability company
, Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd., now headed by Christer Timgren. According to a 2004 article in the Finnish business magazine, Talouselämä, Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd. is Finland
's most cost-effective business with some 80 Moomin license
s in Finland and almost 300 abroad. It has been listed as among the top Creative Export Companies
of Finland in 2007.
Since 1993, Jansson, together with her father, has managed the production of a new series of Moomin strips which Jansson now manages solely.
In 2006 Jansson took the role of director in the release of the CD
, Muumipeikko ja Pyrstötähti.
In 2008, the rediscovery by Jansson of the manuscript
for "The King in Moominland" (a TV script written by Tove and Lars in the late 60s) made news as the resulting musical
performed at the Åbo Svenska Teater
represented the first performance of this "lost episode" in decades.
In May 2003, The Finnish Embassy in London
arranged for events to surround the recent translation of Tove Jansson's 1972 Sommarboken
, a novel which featured the fictionalized life of the young Sophia on an island. During this event, publishers presented works by Sophia Jansson and Johanna Sinisalo
. Jansson was later interviewed in June 2003 by The Daily Telegraph
where she explained the details surrounding the story presented in Sommarboken
and the relationship shared between Jansson and her aunt, Tove Jansson
. She would write in more detail about this topic in 2006 in the Scandinavian Review, and again in 2010 for The Guardian where she explained the nature of her relationship with the rest of the family including her grandmother Signe
and Tove's partner, Tuulikki
.
Jansson has been credited in such books as Tove Jansson's 1989 Rent Spel and Kate McLoughlin's and Malin Lidström Brock's 2007 Tove Jansson Rediscovered among others.
Jansson has appeared as the host of 1998's short film
, Haru: The Island of the Solitary, Introduced by Sophia Jansson. She has also featured in Paul Gravett
's 2006 documentary film
, Moomin's Memoirs, presented at the March 2007 Tove Jansson Conference
in Oxford
.
the re-release
of a Moomin picture book.
In June 2004, Jansson was invited by the Consulate General of Finland to the 31st "Dreams & Visions" Annual Children's Literature Conference in California
. The Consulate sponsored her trip. Here, Jansson represented Finnish
children's literature
during an engaging lecture
and presentation.
In August 2004, Jansson launched the silver Tove Jansson and Children's Culture collector's coin, receiving the first pressing from Raimo Makkonen, CEO
of the Mint
of Finland Group. She served as a judge
in the selection of the coin's images, as well as the series of medals that were also issued.
In 2006 Jansson was invited as a notable speaker for one of the Monthly Luncheons hosted by IWC Helsinki
.
In February 2007 Jansson was invited to speak at the Scandinavia House
in New York City
.
In September 2008 Jansson participated as a member of the Committee of Honor in the renowned IBBY World Congress
.
Jansson participated in the Helsinki Design Week 2008.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
writer and painter Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is best known as the author of the Moomin books.- Biography :...
. Jansson has worked as a Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
teacher
Language education
Language education is the teaching and learning of a foreign or second language. Language education is a branch of applied linguistics.- Need for language education :...
, creative/artistic director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
, chairman, and majority shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
of Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd., and provided direct oversight together with her father for the 1990 Moomin animated series.
Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd.
Growing up in the center of the collaboration of efforts between her aunt and father, Jansson gained an intimate window into the creative processes behind the Moomin comic strip seriesMoomin comic strips
Moomin is a comic strip created by Tove Jansson, and followed up by Lars Jansson, featuring their Moomin family of characters....
. As Tove's efforts became directed more at writing and the strip's production became more the effort of her father, Jansson became an active help in management of the visual aspects of Moomin
Moomin
The Moomins are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-Finn illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses...
as an intellectual property.
In 1979, Lars Jansson founded the limited liability company
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
, Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd., now headed by Christer Timgren. According to a 2004 article in the Finnish business magazine, Talouselämä, Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd. is Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
's most cost-effective business with some 80 Moomin license
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
s in Finland and almost 300 abroad. It has been listed as among the top Creative Export Companies
Creative industries
The creative industries refers to a range of economic activities which are concerned with the generation or exploitation of knowledge and information...
of Finland in 2007.
Since 1993, Jansson, together with her father, has managed the production of a new series of Moomin strips which Jansson now manages solely.
In 2006 Jansson took the role of director in the release of the CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, Muumipeikko ja Pyrstötähti.
In 2008, the rediscovery by Jansson of the manuscript
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for "The King in Moominland" (a TV script written by Tove and Lars in the late 60s) made news as the resulting musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
performed at the Åbo Svenska Teater
Åbo Svenska Teater
Åbo Svenska Teater is a Finland-Swedish theatre in the city of Turku in Finland and the oldest theatre in the country, founded in 1839. The building itself is also the oldest still functioning theatre house in Finland...
represented the first performance of this "lost episode" in decades.
Sophia Jansson in film and print
Lars Jansson produced both Moomin strips as well as others including a short strip called Sophia which he produced for a publication called Jaana in 1965.In May 2003, The Finnish Embassy in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
arranged for events to surround the recent translation of Tove Jansson's 1972 Sommarboken
The Summer Book
The Summer Book is a book written by Finnish author Tove Jansson in 1972.-Plot:An elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter Sophia spend a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland exploring, talking about life, nature, everything but their feelings about Sophia's mother's...
, a novel which featured the fictionalized life of the young Sophia on an island. During this event, publishers presented works by Sophia Jansson and Johanna Sinisalo
Johanna Sinisalo
Aila Johanna Sinisalo is a Finnish science fiction and fantasy writer. She studied comparative literature and drama, amongst other subjects, at the University of Tampere...
. Jansson was later interviewed in June 2003 by The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
where she explained the details surrounding the story presented in Sommarboken
The Summer Book
The Summer Book is a book written by Finnish author Tove Jansson in 1972.-Plot:An elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter Sophia spend a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland exploring, talking about life, nature, everything but their feelings about Sophia's mother's...
and the relationship shared between Jansson and her aunt, Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is best known as the author of the Moomin books.- Biography :...
. She would write in more detail about this topic in 2006 in the Scandinavian Review, and again in 2010 for The Guardian where she explained the nature of her relationship with the rest of the family including her grandmother Signe
Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
Signe "Ham" Hammarsten-Jansson was a Swedish graphic artist who designed, among other things, around 220 Finnish postage stamps during the course of three decades...
and Tove's partner, Tuulikki
Tuulikki Pietilä
Tuulikki Pietilä was a Finnish graphic artist and professor, born in Seattle, Washington. Pietilä was one of the most influential people in Finnish graphic arts, and her work has been shown in numerous art exhibitions...
.
Jansson has been credited in such books as Tove Jansson's 1989 Rent Spel and Kate McLoughlin's and Malin Lidström Brock's 2007 Tove Jansson Rediscovered among others.
Jansson has appeared as the host of 1998's short film
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
, Haru: The Island of the Solitary, Introduced by Sophia Jansson. She has also featured in Paul Gravett
Paul Gravett
Paul Gravett is a London-based journalist, curator, writer and broadcaster who has worked in comics publishing and promotion for over 20 years....
's 2006 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, Moomin's Memoirs, presented at the March 2007 Tove Jansson Conference
Academic conference
An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
Honors and awards
In 2001, following the death of her aunt, Jansson went to the UK to help Sort Of Books promotePromotion (marketing)
Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix . It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision....
the re-release
Reissue
A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....
of a Moomin picture book.
In June 2004, Jansson was invited by the Consulate General of Finland to the 31st "Dreams & Visions" Annual Children's Literature Conference in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The Consulate sponsored her trip. Here, Jansson represented Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
during an engaging lecture
Lecture
thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
and presentation.
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of the Mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
of Finland Group. She served as a judge
Adjudicator
An adjudicator is someone who presides, judges and arbitrates during a formal dispute. The term adjudicator essentially means a judge, without invoking the legal term. An ombudsman is a type of adjudicator in local government in the United Kingdom....
in the selection of the coin's images, as well as the series of medals that were also issued.
In 2006 Jansson was invited as a notable speaker for one of the Monthly Luncheons hosted by IWC Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
.
In February 2007 Jansson was invited to speak at the Scandinavia House
Scandinavia House - The Nordic Center in America
Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America is The American-Scandinavian Foundation's cultural center in midtown Manhattan dedicated to preserving the history of the Scandinavian and Nordic countries' cultural impact in the United States through a wide variety of exhibits and programming...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
In September 2008 Jansson participated as a member of the Committee of Honor in the renowned IBBY World Congress
International Board on Books for Young People
The International Board on Books for Young People is a non-profit organization based in Switzerland committed to bringing books and children together.-History:...
.
Jansson participated in the Helsinki Design Week 2008.