After saunas and Nokia cellphones, it may very well be Finland's most successful export item ever: the Moomin universe, peopled by a group of bulky, white creatures resembling hippos.

A century after the birth of their creator, the late Tove Jansson, the odd charm of the quirky Moomin books and cartoons has won over millions in all age groups and dozens of languages, including Czech, Chinese, Estonian and Esperanto.

The nuclear family - Moominpappa, Moominmamma and Moomintroll - and their coterie of other eccentric characters living close to nature offer a strangely attractive and sometimes eerie alternative reality that draws people in, despite cultural differences.

"The forest was heavy with rain and the trees were absolutely motionless," wrote Jansson in the 1971 book Moominvalley in November.

"Everything had withered and died, but right down in the ground the late autumn's secret garden was growing with great vigor straight out of the moldering earth, a strange vegetation of shiny puffed up plants that had nothing at all to do with summer."

Tamami Yamaguchi, a 50-year-old sales assistant from Yokohama, near Tokyo, is one of many devotees around the world who flock to Finland to feed their passion.

"Moomin lets you escape the bustle of Japanese life and enter a world of animated characters who make you feel relaxed," she said.

The Moomin spinoff industry today is estimated to be worth $10.5 million, with Moomins on items as diverse as stamps and passenger planes.

The world was quite a different place when Moomin creator Jansson was born into a family of artists on Aug 9, 1914, when Finland was still a grand duchy, ruled by the Russian czar.

The precocious girl - a member of Finland's Swedish minority - looked destined for a career as a painter, attending schools in Stockholm, Helsinki and Paris.

But the outbreak of World War II changed her fate as Finland was drawn into battle, twice fighting the Soviet Union. About 100,000 lives were lost as well as large swaths of Finnish territory.

"We can actually thank the war for the birth of the Moomin family," said Tuula Karjalainen, a curator at the Ateneum Museum of Fine Arts in Helsinki.

"Tove Jansson created them because she wanted other things to think about."

She drew inspiration from her background and the people she knew. Moominmamma - patient and wise - is said to be based on Jansson's own mother.

Her first book about the Moomin and their Moominvalley was published in 1945 and was a hit from the start.

The most translated Finnish author of all time, her nine Moomim books have appeared in more than 30 languages.

(China Daily 08/08/2014 page10)