Ludwig Bemelmans is best known as the author of the children's picture book series Madeline. He was born in Meran, Austria-Hungary (now Italy) and emigrated to the United States after 1918. In the 1920s, Bemelemans tried to become an artist and painter while working at hotels, a trade he learned from his father who owned a hotel. In the early 1930's he began writing children's books and in 1939 he published his first Madeline book.