Ludwig Bemelmans

Ludwig Bemelmans (born April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was an Austria-Hungary-born American writer and illustrator of children's books. He is known best for the Madeline picture books. Six were published since 1939. 2Early life Bemelmans was born to the Belgian painter Lambert Bemelmans and the German Frances Fischer in Meran, Austria-Hungary (now Italy). His father owned a hotel. He grew up in Gmunden on the Traunsee in Upper Austria. His first language was French and his second German. In 1904, his father left the family for Ludwig's governess, after which his mother took Ludwig and his brother to her native city of Regensburg, Germany. Bemelmans had difficulty in school, as he hated the German style of discipline. He was apprenticed to his uncle Hans Bemelmans at a hotel in Austria, where he reportedly shot and seriously wounded a waite