WEB DESK: German writer and illustrator Janosch, whose whimsical stories and characters became childhood favourites for generations, has died aged 95, his literary agent confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.
Born Horst Eckert, Janosch created the much-loved Tigerente—a striped wooden duck on wheels—and a host of other memorable characters. His 1978 book *Oh, wie schön ist Panama* (*The Trip to Panama*), about the adventures of Little Bear and Little Tiger, became a classic of German children’s literature.
His books have been translated into more than 30 languages and earned numerous awards. His agent and publisher, Bernhard Feil, told AFP that Janosch died on Tuesday, citing the author’s wife.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised Janosch’s “unbridled imagination,” saying his death had made the world “a little poorer.” He described the author and illustrator as a lifelong companion to children, families and anyone who had held on to a sense of wonder.
Eckert was born in 1931 in Upper Silesia, then part of Germany and now in Poland. His family moved west after Germany’s defeat in the Second World War, and he later studied in Munich.
Though his stories often celebrated love and friendship, Janosch spoke candidly about a difficult childhood. In a 2017 interview with *Der Spiegel*, he described growing up with a violent, alcoholic father and a strict mother as “hell.”
Janosch had lived with his wife, Ines, on Spain’s Tenerife since 1980.
