Rafaello Busoni (1900–1962)

Graphic artist Rafaello Busoni was born on February 1, 1900 in Berlin. Rafaello spent his childhood travelling on concert tours accompanying his father, Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924), an Italian musician and composer. During World War I Rafaello lived in Switzerland and studied fine arts. After illustrating his first two books, Bible and Song of Solomon in 1922 and 1923 respectively, it took Rafaello almost two decades to return to this craft. In 1939, Rafaello, his Jewish wife, Hannah née Apfel, and their children fled from the horrors of Nazi Germany to Sweden, before emigrating to the U.S. that same year (Phillips 36). Due to Rafaello Busoni's career as an artist, he frequently traveled, which often left the couple separated and led to an extensive exchange of letters. The letters were collected by the Center for Jewish History.

In the U.S., Busoni began a new chapter in his career: He wrote and illustrated his first children’s book, South Africa and the Congo, for his son Mario. In the following years, he illustrated over one hunded children's books, using techniques such as woodcut, lithography, etching and direct drawing. In 1948 he started working on educational drawings on various subjects for schools, collaborating with the Audio-Video Filmstrips company. Busoni also illustrated educational books and became a recognized authority on book illustration. On March 28, 1962, Rafaello Busoni passed away in New York. Despite having written and illustrated books for adults as well, his children's book illustrations are regarded his greatest artistic achievement (Phillips 36–37).

Source:

Phillips, Zlata Fuss. German Children’s and Youth Literature in Exile, 1933–1950. München: K. G. Saur, 2001. Print.