Franz August Rudolph de Santis Dobiáš (May 11, 1900 – January 10, 1976), known as Frank Dobias, was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

-born American illustrator of children's books. Among many other works, his illustrations for the Japanese version of '' Little Black Sambo'' made the book a bestseller in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, selling well over a million copies between 1953 and 1988.

Biography

Dobias was born in

Gloggnitz Gloggnitz is a mountain town in the Neunkirchen (Austrian district), Neunkirchen district of Lower Austria, Austria. Gloggnitz is situated in the south-western part of the Viennese Basin, Vienna Basin in Lower Austria. It is surrounded by the hi ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, the son of Franz Dobiáš Sr. from

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

and Anna Maria Katharina Fondi, of Italian noble descent. His father and uncle were landscape painters. His maternal grandfather and uncle, both named August Fondi, were architects. He grew up in Vienna, where he attended the ''

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for the ...

'' and Kunst Akademie in Vienna. Frank Dobias studied under Franz Cižek and

Alfred Roller Alfred Roller (2 October 1864 – 21 June 1935) was an Austrian painter, graphic designer, and set designer. His wife was Mileva Roller and they were members of the Viennese Secession movement. Life and work Roller was born in Brno, Brünn ...

. He emigrated to the United States in 1923 and settled in Pennsylvania, where he started his professional career as illustrator mostly for

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

books. The illustrations used in the Japanese best-seller were originally drawn for '' Little Black Sambo'' published from Macmillan in 1927. The Macmillan 1927 version was revived from Komichi Shobo Publishing, a Japanese publisher in Tokyo, in 2008.

Selected works

* Bannerman, Helen. '' Little Black Sambo.'' The Happy Hour Books.

, 1927. * Siebe, Josephine. '' Kasperle’s Adventures.'' Translated by Florence Geiser.

, 1929. * Morris, William. '' Sons of the Volsungs.'' Adapted by Dorothy Hosford from '' Sigurd the Volsung'' by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

, 1932. *Junior Bible.

, 1936. *Cook, Canfield. ''Sky Attack''. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1942. * Kelsey, Alice (Geer). '' Once the Hodja.''

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman ...

’s 1943. * Bannerman, Helen. ''Chibikuro Sambo.'' Komichi Shobo Publishing, 2008. (A Japanese translation of Macmillan's 1927 version.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobias, Frank 1900 births 1976 deaths American illustrators Austrian emigrants to the United States Austrian people of Italian descent Austrian people of Czech descent American people of Italian descent American people of Czech descent