Fritz Wegner

[1] On the strength of a sketch of a man drawn from memory, he was offered a scholarship to St Martin's School of Art at the age of 14, together with accommodation in Hampstead Garden Suburb with the family of one of his tutors, George Mansell, who also taught him English.

[2] As Wegner recalled in an interview: “It was an extremely generous thing to do and indeed I lived with them for several years, learning everything I later knew about lettering, penmanship, gilding and the Roman alphabet.

In 1942 he was classified as a "friendly enemy alien" and assigned to war work on the land in Buckinghamshire, gaining further education from his co-workers, mostly conscientious objectors.

[2] Wegner began his long career as a freelance illustrator by working for the magazine Lilliput and drawing book jackets for a range of publishers.

[3] Working constantly to support a family of three children, Wegner undertook a range of illustration work for John Bull, Puffin Annual, Radio Times, Farmers Weekly, Everywoman, Woman, and Beauty, as well as postage stamps for Christmas[4] and other festivities and, from 1973, a string of drawings for the American children's magazine, Cricket, which featured running commentary by insect characters.

One of his most reprinted works is his illustrations for Fattypuffs and Thinifers: “It gave me the opportunity to test my invention and humour, the two ingredients I most wanted to bring to my drawings”.

(2) He taught a younger generation of British illustrators, among them Sara Midda, Linda Kitson, Patrick Benson, Nick Sharratt,[2] Glynn Boyd Harte, Nicola Bayley, George Hardie, and Phillida Gili.