Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) was born in what is now part of Italy. He came to the United States in 1917 and became a citizen a year later in 1918. He worked at hotels during the day and painted at night, but had minimal artistic success through the early 1930's. Bemelmans started working on children's books in 1934. His big success came in 1939 with the first Madeline book, published by Simon & Schuster. This book starred Madeline, a 7-year-old girl who attended boarding school in Paris. He would go on to write seven books in the Madeline series, the last published posthumously in 1999. The story's heroine was named after Bemelmans' wife, Madeleine "Mimi" Freund. Bemelmans' only work on display to the public is a mural he drew on the walls of the Bemelmans Bar, located in New York City's historic Carlyle Hotel.
