Marie-Ilon Wikland, born Maire-Ilon Pääbo (b. Turku, Estonia, 1930 – still living) is an artist. She was born in Tallinn, Estonia and spent her summers in Haapsalu. In the autumn of 1944, when approximately 80,000 Estonians fled the country in fear of the advancing Soviet troops, 14-year-old Ilon was sent to Sweden on a boat with her schoolmate’s family to get away from the war, as her father’s family had already fled there. Arriving in Sweden as a refugee, Ilon moved in with her artist aunt in Stockholm, and later she became an artist in the 1950s. She is most famous for illustrating children’s books by Astrid Lindgren.
