Laurent de Brunhoff, author of Babar elephant books, dies at 98

Writer and illustrator Laurent de Brunhoff, who continued his father's legacy by producing dozens of original books for his “Babar the Elephant” series, has passed away at age 98.

De Brunhoff died at his home in Key West, Florida (USA), on Friday (22), after a recent stroke, his wife, critic and author Phyllis Rose, told CNN by email.

A citizen of both France and the US, de Brunhoff has published more than 40 books featuring Babar, an impeccably dressed elephant devised by his mother, Cécile, and brought to life by his illustrator father, Jean, in the 1930s.

“The beginning of Babar was my mother’s bedtime story,” de Brunhoff told CNN in an interview aired in 2003. “And my brother and I loved the story. We went to my dad's studio and told him about it. He started to make a book for us. After the first book, he did another and another. And he just discovered himself, I think.”

De Brunhoff was just 12 years old when his father died of tuberculosis in 1937, after publishing five books in the series. These early titles see the green-suited Babar leaving the jungle for Paris when his mother is killed by a hunter, before embarking on several adventures and being crowned king of the elephants.

Two more of his father's books were published posthumously – and a then-teenage Brunhoff colored and designed a cover illustration for his father's seventh and final Babar title.

Sharing his father's gift for illustration, de Brunhoff studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière art school in Paris and worked as an abstract painter. In 1946, at the age of 21, he revived Babar with the first of his own books, Babar's Cousin: The Pest Arthur.

“I wanted Babar to live again,” he told CNN in 2003.

Global phenomenon

In the decades after his father's death, de Brunhoff introduced new characters and storylines, helping to popularize the series and bring it to a global audience. His original stories featured Babar traveling the world with his family, learning to cook, practicing yoga, and even visiting an alien planet. His most recent book in the series, “Babar’s Guide to Paris,” was published in 2017, more than 70 years after he first revived the character.

Despite capturing the imagination of generations of children, the series was accused of being an allegory – and justification – of French colonialism. Some of Jean de Brunhoff's original illustrations and plots, in turn, have been criticized for employing racist stereotypes.

In the 1980s, Chilean author Ariel Dorfman argued that Babar's story—including his adoption of human clothing and mannerisms, and subsequent depictions of him bringing the benefits of human civilization back to the jungle—represented the “fulfillment of the colonial dream of the dominant countries”.

“Babar introduces progress into the jungle without disturbing the ecological balance, because (Jean) de Brunhoff omits all the plunder, racism, underdevelopment and misery from his story of the relationship between the two worlds,” Dorfman wrote in his 1983 book, “The Old Clothes of the Empire: What the Lone Ranger, Babar, and other innocent heroes do to our minds.”

When asked about Dorfman's review by National Geographic in 2014, de Brunhoff appeared to accept the idea that the series perpetuated myths about French colonialism.

“I think that’s right. Absolutely,” he told the magazine. “Somehow, it is a little embarrassing to see Babar fighting with black people in Africa. My second book, 'Babar's Picnic', was also inspired by my father's drawing. A few years later, I felt embarrassed by this book and asked the publisher to withdraw it.”

The series has been translated into numerous languages, and Babar has also been adapted for TV on several occasions, beginning with a production for NBC in the late 1960s. A later series, “Babar” (“The Adventures of Babar” in Brazil) , premiered in 1989 on CBC in Canada and HBO in the US (HBO is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN ), while the more recent “Babar and the Adventures of Badou” aired on several channels globally, including Disney Junior, between 2010 and 2015.

Tributes for de Brunhoff flooded in the weekend following news of his death. Writing on X (formerly Twitter) Oscar-nominated writer, director and actor Whit Stillman described his Babar books as “beautiful and enchanting.”

New York's Mary Ryan Gallery, which represented de Brunhoff's illustrations, said on Instagram that the writer and illustrator's love for Babar, his art and family story touched millions around the world.