Profile of the Day: H.A. Rey

H.A. Rey

Do you remember reading the adventures of Curious George? On this day in 1898, illustrator and author H.A. Rey was born in Hamburg, Germany. Curious George is perhaps one of the most recognizable characters in children’s literature. Together with his wife Margaret, Rey brought to life the curious little monkey with his illustrations.

Born Hans Augusto Reyersbach, Rey was the son of German Jews. He first met his wife in Hamburg at Margaret’s sister’s 16th birthday party. Years later, they met again in Brazil where Rey was working as a salesman. Margaret, whose father was Jewish, had gone to Brazil to escape the rise of Nazi Germany. In 1935, the couple married and moved to Paris, France. It was there that they began to write their tale of Curious George, but the outbreak of World War II interrupted their work. In 1940, the couple left the city using self-made bicycles and eventually boarded a ship that would take them to the United States. An illustrated manuscript of Curious George was one of the few possessions they brought with them.

In 1941, the couple published the first Curious George book in New York City. The children’s book was an instant success and the Reys would come to write six more Curious George stories. Today, the adventures of the curious little monkey and his friend with the yellow hat continues to delight new generations of readers all around the world.

H.A. Rey is connected to over 100 million people in Geni’s World Family Tree. How are you related?
 

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Image: Elsa Dorfman, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)