Marcel Marlier was a Belgian artist and illustrator. He was born in Herseaux, Belgium. When he was 16, he enrolled in decorative art at Saint-Luc de Tournai. He finished his studies in 1951 with the greatest distinction. He returned as a teacher two years later. The Belgian publisher La Procure � Namur organized a drawing contest. They were interested in finding talented artists to illustrate works for school children. Marlier won the competition. Two books resulted from this and these books guided a whole generation of Belgian children through the first few years of school, I Read with Michel and Nicole and I Calculate with Michel and Nicole. Marlier's collaboration with La Procure � Namur lasted more than 25 years. Pierre Servais at Casterman, a Belgian publishing company, began to notice Marlier's drawings in 1951. He suggested that Marlier should illustrate a series of books for children. The result was editions of Alexandre Dumas' adventure books. This was followed in 1953 by illustrations for a book by Jeanne Cappe about two very similar rabbits. Marlier also took part in the Farandole series, intended for children. 

November 18th, 1930 in Mouscron  /  Died:   Jan 18th, 2011