T'choupi was not born for a book: the little character with the comfort blanket was drawn in 1992 for three board games, and the picture books came only five years later — eighty-nine titles by 2005. Millions of children held his work without ever reading his name.
The story
T'choupi was not born for a book. In 1992 Thierry Courtin drew, for three Nathan board games, a small character with the look of a penguin, and his comfort blanket. There was no question of picture books yet.
Born in Paris on 30 March 1954, he had been a visual designer at Bayard Presse since 1981 — the children's magazines. The books came five years after the first drawing, in 1997, at Nathan. The success was immediate and lasting: eighty-nine titles by 2005, and a place in almost every child's bedroom in France.
The character then left the page: the animated series T'choupi et Doudou dates from 1999, the film from 2004.
He died at La Rochelle on 16 April 2023. The stone in Division 53 gives only his name and two dates. Millions of children have held his work in their hands without ever reading that name.
The grave
A simple grave whose inscription consists of a name and two dates: “Thierry COURTIN, 1954-2023”. Nothing of T'choupi, nothing of the eighty-nine picture books, nothing of the penguin with the comfort blanket that millions of children held in their hands. Nothing, either, of the boy born the same year as the character: it was his son, who came into the world in 1992, whose days supplied the first stories.
On site, do not miss
A stone of three elements: “Thierry COURTIN, 1954-2023.” Nothing signals the character that millions of French children have held in their hands.
Visitors' questions
Where is Thierry Courtin's grave?
In Division 53, chemin du Bastion, first row, beneath a plain stone: “Thierry COURTIN, 1954-2023”. Nothing on it points to T'choupi or to the eighty-nine albums. The Division is also home to the couturier Ted Lapidus and the Resistance forger Adolfo Kaminsky.
Ted LapidusWhen was T'choupi created?
In 1992, and not for a book: the character — part penguin, comfort blanket under one arm — was born for three Nathan board games. The albums only followed in 1997, with Nathan, and the success was immediate. Courtin had by then been a visual designer at Bayard Presse for eleven years.
Joseph JoffoHow many titles are there in the series?
Eighty-nine by 2005, eight years after the first album. T'choupi then left the page: the animated series T'choupi et Doudou dates from 1999, the film from 2004. The character had been born seven years before the first album.
Adolfo KaminskyWhen was he born?
On 30 March 1954, as his grave carves it: “1954-2023”. He was sixty-nine when he died.
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