Donia Esther Nachshen (22 January 1903 – 1987) was a Ukrainian-born British book illustrator and poster artist who is now best known for the posters she produced for the British government during World War Two.

Biography

Nachshen was born in the city of

Zhitomir Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

, which was then part of Russia and is now in Ukraine. Nachshen was born into a Jewish family and after an anti-Jewish

pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...

in the city in 1905, the family fled Zhitomir and eventually settled in London. Nachshen did well at school in London and enrolled in the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

. By the 1920s she had established herself as a successful book designer. She illustrated translations of works by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

and the Nobel Prize winner

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

'' in 1934 and also illustrated editions of works by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

and Samuel Butler. She also produced illustrations for the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

''. During World War Two, Nachshen produced poster designs for a number of high-profile campaigns, notably the ''Make Do and Mend'' campaign run by the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

and also ''Telegraph Less'' for the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

. She continued with her book illustration work during the War, producing designs for versions of " Diary of a Madman" by

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

and a 1945 collection of short stories by

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

as well as books by

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

. After the War, Nachshen lived in London and continued to illustrate Russian novels and poetry, mainly for the publishers

Constable & Co Constable & Robinson Ltd. is an imprint of Little, Brown which publishes fiction and non-fiction books and ebooks. History Constable & Co. was founded in 1795 by Archibald Constable, and became the publisher of works by Sir Walter Scott. In 1 ...

and also for the Lindsay Drummond company. For the Russian novels, Nachshen used scraperboard to create dramatic illustrations that resembled a style of eastern European woodcuts, while for the children's book that she illustrated she used much lighter pen drawings.

Books illustrated

Books illustrated by Nachshen include, * ''The Works of Anatole France'' by

Anatole France (; born ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters.Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1887 by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, The Bodley Head existed as an independent entity or as part of multiple consortia until it was acquired by Random ...

, 1925) * ''Topsy Turvy'' by

Vernon Bartlett Charles Vernon Oldfield Bartlett, CBE (30 April 1894 – 18 January 1983) was an English journalist, politician and author. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1938 to 1950: first as an Independent Progressive advocating a Popular ...

, (1927) * ''Rhapsody'' by

, (Constable, 1928) * ''Fraulein Else'' by Arthur Schnitzler, (Constable, 1929) * ''The Red Lily'' by Anatole France, (Bodley Head, 1930) * ''Out of Childhood'' by Irina Odoevtzeva, (Constable, 1930) * ''The Works of Oscar Wilde'' by

, (Collins,

931 Year 931 ( CMXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place North Africa * The Ummayad Caliphate of Córdoba invades and conquers the city of Ceuta, which was ruled by the Berber dynasty Banu I ...

* ''The Haggadah'' (1934) * ''

The Way of All Flesh ''The Way of All Flesh'' (originally titled ''Ernest Pontifex or the Way of All Flesh'') is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler that attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. Written between 1873 and 1884, it traces four generations of the ...

'' by Samuel Butler, (Cape, 1936) * ''Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book'' by

, (

Evans Brothers Evans Brothers Ltd (or Evans Brothers Limited) was a British publishing house that was part of the Evans Publishing Group UK. The firm first published teacher training materials and in later years broadened its catalogue, publishing children's bo ...

, 1944) * ''Black Night, Red Morning'' by

Geoffrey Trease Robert Geoffrey Trease FRSL (11 August 1909 – 27 January 1998) was a prolific British writer who published 113 books, mainly for children, between 1934 and 1997, starting with '' Bows Against the Barons'' and ending with ''Cloak for a Spy'' i ...

, (1944) * '' Diary of a Madman /

Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is a main street ( high street) located in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. Its name comes from the Alexander Nevs ...

'' by

, (Drummond, 1945) * ''Three Tales'' by

, (Drummond, 1945) * ''The Spirit of Music'' by

Alexander Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

, (Drummond, 1946) * ''Tales of Bielkin'' by

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

, (Drummond, 1947) * ''Pushkin, Lermontov, Tyutchev; Poems'' (Drummond, 1947) * ''Poems in Prose'' by

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

, (Drummond)

References

External links

Works by Donia Nachshen
in the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

collection. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nachshen, Donia 1903 births 1987 deaths 20th-century British women artists Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from London British graphic designers British poster artists 20th-century British illustrators British women illustrators Enid Blyton illustrators Jewish women artists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom British women graphic designers World War II artists 20th-century British Jews