Tove Jansson: Love, Art, and the Queer Heart of the Moomins

In Finland, Tove Jansson is more than a beloved artist—she’s a national treasure. But beyond the whimsical valleys and quirky characters of the Moomins lies another story, one that pulses with courage, tenderness, and unapologetic authenticity.

Born in Helsinki in 1914 to a sculptor father and an illustrator mother, Tove grew up in a home where art was as essential as breathing. Her creations would one day circle the globe, shaping childhoods and comforting adults, yet her truest masterpiece might have been the life she lived.

Tove never hid who she was, even when the law said she should. Homosexuality in Finland was illegal until 1971, but she refused to live in fear. “I always fell in love with a person,” she said. “Sometimes that person was a man, and sometimes it was a woman.” Love, for Tove, was never about labels—it was about connection, soul to soul.

In the 1950s, she met Ida Helmi Tuulikki Pietilä, a gifted graphic artist who became her lifelong partner. Together, they built not only a shared home but also a shared universe, creating projects like the 3D Moominhouse now displayed at the Moomin Museum in Tampere. Some Moomin characters carry Tuulikki’s spirit, just as others carry fragments of Tove’s friends and lovers.

This quiet defiance—loving openly in a time when love like hers was erased—made its way into her art. The Moomins are not perfect; they can be selfish, moody, or strange. But they are also kind, accepting, and fiercely loving. They teach us that families can look many different ways, and that home is wherever you are loved.

For Finland, Tove is a source of pride—a reminder that art and identity can be revolutionary. For the global LGBTQ+ community, she is proof that queer lives are worth living fully, even when the world tells us otherwise. And for young queer people everywhere, her story whispers the same truth her Moomins live by: love above all.