Jella Lepman

Jella Lepman (15 May 1891, in Stuttgart – 4 October 1970, in Zurich) was a German journalist, author and translator who founded the International Youth Library in Munich.

[1] Jella Lehman, born in Stuttgart, was the oldest daughter of the manufacturer Josef Lehmann (1853–1911) and his wife Flora (née Lauchheimer; 1867–1940).

At the age of 17, in 1908, she organised an international reading room for the children of foreign works at a tobacco factory in an industrial quarter of Stuttgart.

She wrote socio-political contributions and in 1927 introduced the newspaper supplement for women titled "The woman in house, profession and society".

[3] With the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Jella Lepman, as a Jew, lost her job at the newspaper, but was able to continue working for it as a freelancer until 1935.

After the end of World War II, she returned to Germany in October 1945 as a consultant to the US Army as part of the Reeducation [de] program of the American occupied zone,[5] and responsible for programmes for women and youth.

She gave her friend Erich Kästner the idea that inspired his children's book The Animals' Conference (Die Konferenz der Tiere, 1949).

Since 1991, in honor of Lepman's 100th birthday, the International Board on Books for Young People awards the "Jella-Lepman Medal"[7] to individuals who have made a significant contribution to children's literature.