Margot Zemach
Encyclopedia
Margot Zemach was an American illustrator
of more than forty children's books, many of them adaptations of folk tales from around the world.
Margot Zemach was born in Los Angeles
. When she was growing up there during the Great Depression, she drew to make people laugh but never had enough paper. She studied at the Los Angeles County Art Institute and, on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1955-1956, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria.
In 1957 she married Harvey Fichstrom and her illustrating career began when he urged her to do children's books. They collaborated on their first book in 1959. She did the illustrations and he, under the pseudonym
Harve Zemach, did the text. In all, they collaborated on 13 books, including the 1974 Caldecott Medal
winning Duffy and the Devil.
The Zemachs had four daughters including Kaethe, also an author and illustrator of children's books. Margot Zemach died in Berkeley, California
on May 21, 1989 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(also called Lou Gehrig's disease).
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
of more than forty children's books, many of them adaptations of folk tales from around the world.
Margot Zemach was born in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. When she was growing up there during the Great Depression, she drew to make people laugh but never had enough paper. She studied at the Los Angeles County Art Institute and, on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1955-1956, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria.
In 1957 she married Harvey Fichstrom and her illustrating career began when he urged her to do children's books. They collaborated on their first book in 1959. She did the illustrations and he, under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Harve Zemach, did the text. In all, they collaborated on 13 books, including the 1974 Caldecott Medal
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
winning Duffy and the Devil.
The Zemachs had four daughters including Kaethe, also an author and illustrator of children's books. Margot Zemach died in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
on May 21, 1989 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
(also called Lou Gehrig's disease).
External links
- Margot Zemach in "Embracing the Child"