Ali Mitgutsch Explained

Alfons “Ali” Mitgutsch (pronounced as /de/; 21 August 1935 – 10 January 2022) was a German author of picture books and a professional advertising Illustrator. He was known as the father of the Wimmelbilder books.[1]

Life and career

Mitgutsch was born in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, on 21 August 1935. As a child the Mitgutsch family was evacuated to Allgäu in World War II due to bombing in Munich.[2] After returning to Munich he trained at Graphical Academy as a lithographer.

In the 1960s, Kurt Seelmann, a child psychologist inspired him to create a special kind of picture book for children. Mitgutsch became famous for his Wimmelbilder-books. These books show everyday scenes in a single painting across the pages on top. Rundherum in meiner Stadt (Around in my city) released in 1968 is the first book in the series.[3]

Mitgutsch lived in Munich, the city inspired his paintings. He died in Munich from complications of pneumonia on 10 January 2022, at the age of 86.[4] [5]

Awards

Publications

Picture books

Further reading

References

  1. (German) Boris Berg: Der Vater der Wimmelbücher – Zum 80. Geburtstag von Ali Mitgutsch, Bayerischer Rundfunk vom 21. August 2015 (archive.org) (YouTube)
  2. http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/ali-mitgutsch-erfinder-der-wimmelbuecher-wird-80-a-1047680.html (German) Wimmelbild-Erfinder Ali Mitgutsch: Da kommt er, der Träumer!
  3. (German) Magnus Klaue, Zur Renaissance der Wimmelbücher, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung No. 65, 18.
  4. News: Schuetze. Christopher F.. 2022-01-18. Ali Mitgutsch, Inventive Children's Book Illustrator, Dies at 86. en-US. The New York Times. 2022-01-19. 0362-4331.
  5. Web site: Linnartz. Mareen. Ali Mitgutsch: Der Kinderbuchautor ist mit 86 Jahren gestorben. 11 January 2022. Süddeutsche.de. 11 January 2022 . de.
  6. Web site: Ali Mitgutsch | Rossipotti Literaturlexikon. www.rossipotti.de.
  7. Web site: Landeshauptstadt München - Ernst-Hoferichter-Preis 2016 an Ali Mitgutsch . 4 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160327035941/http://www.muenchen.de/rathaus/Stadtverwaltung/Kulturreferat/Presseservice/Pressemeldungen/2015_09/Ernst-Hoferichter-Preis.html . 27 March 2016 . dead .
  8. Wimmelbuch-Autor: Orden für Ali Mitgutsch, Neue Presse vom 11 October 2018, p. 17
  9. Web site: Oberbayerischer Kulturpreis. Bezirk. Oberbayern. Bezirk Oberbayern.