Leo Lionni

Authors Background
May 5, 1910
Lionni was born to a family of
Italian origin who were resident in
The Netherlands. His father
worked in the diamond business
and his mother was an opera
singer
Leo Lionni was born into a family that appreciated art, and, from a very young
age, he knew he wanted to be an artist. He loved nature and started keeping small
creatures--minnows, birds, fish, and more--in his attic room in Amsterdam.

Authors Background
1930

At 16, he met Nora Maffi,

who a few years later
became his wife. The
marriage endured for 69
years.
In addition to his wife, he
is survived by a son, Louis
Manny; four
grandchildren, Pippo
Lionni and Annie Lionni
(for whom ''Little Blue and
Little Yellow'' was
conceived) Gina Zucker
and Sylvan Lionni, and six

Authors Background
1931 to 1939

he was a well-known and

respected painter in Italy,
where he worked in the
Futurism and avant-garde
styles.
Marzo (1962),
painting by Leo
Lionni

Authors Background
1935
In 1935 he received a
degree in economics from
the University of Genoa.
During the later part of
this period, Lionni
devoted himself more and
more to advertising
design.

Authors Background
In 1939 he
moved to
Philadelphia and
began full-time
work in
advertising, at
which he was
extremely
successful,
acquiring
accounts from
Ford Motors and
Chrysler
Plymouth, among
others. He was a
member of the
Advertising Art

photos are from the rare 28 page catalog created by

Leo Lionni for the event.

Authors Background
1948 to 1960

In 1948 he accepted
a position as art
director for Fortune,
which he held until
1960.
Fortune is an American business magazine published
globally by Time Inc. and founded by Henry Luce in
1929.

Authors Background
In 1960 he moved
back to Italy, and
began his career as a
children's book author
and illustrator. Lionni
produced more than 40
children's books.
Gold Medal and was a
four-time Caldecott Honor
Winnerfor Inch by Inch
(1961), Swimmy (1964),
Frederick (1968), and
Alexander and the WindUp Mouse (1970).[2] He
also won the Deutscher
Jugendliteraturpreis in
1965.

1961 by Leo Lionni

1968 by Leo Lionni

1964 by Leo Lionni

1970 by Leo Lionni

Authors Background
1984

He received the
1984 American
Institute of
Graphic Arts
(A.I.G.A.)

Authors Background
1999
Lionni always thought of
himself as an artist. He
worked in many disciplines
including, especially,
drawing, painting, sculpture
and photography. He had
one-man shows in the
United States, Europe, Asia
and the Middle East. He
continued to work as an
artist until just before his
death in 1999.

Magazine
art
director
graphic
designer

Artist

children's
book
illustrator
and author

He had many careers, including Futurist painter,

architectural critic for the Italian magazine Casabella,
advertising designer for the N. W. Ayer agency in
Philadelphia, graphic design consultant to Olivetti in Milan
and the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, art director
for Fortune, Print and Panorama magazines and professor
of design at Cooper Union.