In 1974 Tove Jansson donated one of her Moomin paintings from the 1960s for the Nylands Nation, in Helsinki. Swedish-speaking Nylands Nation is Finland’s oldest nation at the University of Helsinki, established in 1643 in Turku.
Over the years, the painting has been stolen once but luckily returned afterward. Maybe this has something to do with the student pranks…?
Tove Jansson, 1960s
Aquarelle
Photo: Fredrik Forssell, 2007 / Nylands nation vid Helsingfors universitet
In 1990 Tove Jansson was selected as an honorary member of the Nylands Nation. In April 1990 an annual celebration took place in Helsinki and Tove Jansson spent the evening together with the professor, chancellor Jan-Magnus Jansson.
Photo: Nylands nation vid Helsingfors universitet
During the celebration, Tove’s favorite schnapps song “Suparna de sitta…” was also sung and even today the song can be found from the Nylands Nation’s songbook – because Tove herself so wished.