Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was a German-American author, an internationally known gourmet and also a writer and illustrator of children's books. He is most famous today for the series of Madeline books.
Bemelmans was born to Belgian painter Lambert Bemelmans and German Frances Fischer in Meran, Austria. His father owned a hotel. He grew up in Gmunden on the Traunsee in Upper Austria. His first language was French and his ...
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Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was a German-American author, an internationally known gourmet and also a writer and illustrator of children's books. He is most famous today for the series of Madeline books.
Bemelmans was born to Belgian painter Lambert Bemelmans and German Frances Fischer in Meran, Austria. 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. His mother, Frances, took Ludwig and his brother to her native city of Regensburg. Bemelmans had difficulty in school and hated the German discipline. He was apprenticed to his uncle Hans Bemelmans at a hotel in Austria, but he apparently shot and seriously wounded a waiter and was forced to choose between being institutionalized or emigration to America.
He spent the next several years working at hotels and restaurants, and in 1917 joined the U.S. Army but was not...
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