De Brunhoff, Cécile (1903–2003)
De Brunhoff, Cécile (1903–2003)
French pianist and teacher. Name variations: Cecile de Brunhoff. Born Cécile de Sabouraud, Oct 16, 1903, in Paris, France; died in Paris, April 7, 2003; dau. of a dermatologist; studied piano at École Normale de Musique under Alfred Cortot; m. Jean de Brunhoff (painter and writer), 1923 (died 1937); children: Thierry (pianist), Mathieu (pediatrician) and Laurent de Brunhoff (b. 1925, writer, painter and illustrator).
Was a piano teacher at École Normale de Musique; created a bedtime story for her son Mathieu about an orphaned elephant, then known as Bébé (1930); husband copied the story down, illustrated it, and it was published as Story of Babar (1933), followed by 5 sequels; though the original copy had her name on the title page, demanded that it come off for commercial issue; son Laurent later added 30 more titles.