Elisabeth "Ellis" Kaut (17 November 1920 – 24 September 2015) was a German author of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, best known for her creation of

Pumuckl ''Meister Eder und sein Pumuckl'' (English: ''Master Eder and his Pumuckl)'' is a German children's series created by Ellis Kaut. Originally a radio play series of the Bavarian Radio in 1961, the stories were later adapted into books, a success ...

, a

kobold A kobold (; ''kobolt'', ''kobolde'', cobold) is a general or generic name for the household spirit (''hausgeist'') in German folklore. It may invisibly make noises (i.e., be a poltergeist), or helpfully perform kitchen chores or stable work. ...

appearing in radio plays and TV series. She also published novellas and some illustrated books.

Life

Ellis Kaut was born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. Her parents moved to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

with her when she was two years old. In 1938, aged 18, Ellis Kaut was elected the first official

Münchner Kindl Münchner Kindl, meaning "Munich child" in the Bavarian dialect, is the name of the symbol on the coat of arms of the city of Munich. History This symbol has been the coat-of-arms of Munich since the 13th century. The figure portrayed was origin ...

for that year. In 1939 she married author Kurt Preis, continuing to live in Munich. They had a daughter, Ursula, born in March 1945. Ellis Kaut received actor's training, then studied sculpting. From 1948 she was a freelance author and also had some speaking parts in radio plays in the 1950s and 1960s. She supervised children's programmes at

Bayerischer Rundfunk (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...

, but was also active as a painter and photographer. In a 2010 interview, Ellis Kaut said that writing was always hard work for her. Ellis Kaut's husband died in 1991. Her last place of residence was in the district of

Pasing Pasing is a district in the city of Munich, Germany, and part of the borough Pasing-Obermenzing. Overview Pasing is located west of the Munich city centre, at the north-western edge of the city's innermost traffic zone. The district is mainly res ...

in Munich. She died after a long illness on 24 September 2015, aged 94, in a nursing home near

Fürstenfeldbruck Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it had a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base. Geography F ...

Honors and awards

* 1938: First

* 1955: Bayerischer Hörspielpreis * 1971: Schwabinger Kunstpreis * 1980: Cross of Merit 1st Class of

Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* 1980: Medal „ München leuchtet“ * 1984: Ernst-Hoferichter-Preis * 1985: Bayerischer Verdienstorden * 1992: Bayerischer Poetentaler * 1999: Oberbayerischer Kulturpreis * 2001: Pro meritis scientiae et litterarum * 2002:

Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille The Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille (Bavarian Constitution Medal) is an award by the German state Bavaria, which is awarded annually by the Bavarian state parliament to persons who have rendered outstanding services to the Bavarian constitution. ...

in silver

References

External links

Ellis Kaut's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaut, Ellis 1920 births 2015 deaths 20th-century German writers German children's writers German women children's writers German women children's book illustrators German children's book illustrators Photographers from Munich Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Writers from Munich 20th-century German women