Edward Ardizzone

Edward Ardizzone CBE
Ardizzone in uniform by Henry Carr, (1944) (Art.IWM ART LD 4056)
Born	Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone (1900-10-16)16 October 1900 Haiphong, Tonkin
Died	8 November 1979(1979-11-08) (aged 79) Rodmersham Green, Kent, England
Occupation	Artist, illustrator, writer
Nationality	British
Genre	Children's books
Notable works	Tim All Alone (1956)

Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, CBE RA (16 October 1900 – 8 November 1979) was an English painter, print-maker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For Tim All Alone (Oxford, 1956), which he wrote and illustrated, Ardizzone won the inaugural Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association for the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal in 2005, the book was named one of the top ten winning titles, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for public election of an all-time favourite.

Ardizzone's father, Auguste Ardizzone, was a naturalized Frenchman of Italian descent, who was born in Algeria, then a colony of France, and worked on overseas government service elsewhere in the French colonial empire. Ardizzone's mother, Margaret, was English. Her father, Edward Alexander Irving was the assistant colonial secretary of Singapore. Edward Ardizzone was born in the port city of Haiphong, in what is now Vietnam, but was then known as Tonkin, in the north of French Indo-China, whilst his father was working for the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company.

In 1905, Margaret Ardizzone returned to England with her three eldest children. They were brought up in Suffolk, largely by their maternal grandmother, whilst Margaret returned to join her husband in the Far East. The Ardizzone family lived in Ipswich at Corder Road between 1905 and 1910, and in Gainsborough Road from 1911 to 1912. Ardizzone was educated first at Ipswich School and then at Clayesmore School, a boarding school in Wokingham from 1912. At Claysmore his interest in art was encouraged by an art teacher.

Ardizzone left school in 1918 and twice tried to enlist in the British Army but was refused. After spending six months at a commerce college in Bath, Ardizzone spent several years working as an office clerk in both Warminster and London, where he began taking evening classes at the Westminster School of Art, which were taught by Bernard Meninsky. In 1922 Ardizzone became a naturalized British citizen. While working as an office clerk, Ardizzone had spent his weekends and free time painting and in 1926, with financial support from his father, gave up his office job to concentrate on establishing himself as a professional, freelance artist.