Liliane Funcken (1927–2015)

Liliane Funcken, née Schorils, was born in Soignies, Belgium. She originally worked as an executive secretary for the department store Innovation in Brussels. On the side, she was also writing stories for Spirou and Bonnes Soirées. In 1949, she met Fred Funcken also an illustrator, when he was designing displays for Innovation. After they married, they began to work closely together to create numerous historical-themed comics, which became popular for their lively and realistic style. These included many short stories for Tintin Magazine, among others, as well as a variety of adaptations of The Three Musketeteers, The Count of Monte-Cristo and The Black Tulip. They also visualized several songs by Jacques Brel in comic strip format. Between 1955 and 1962, they made over 1,600 drawings for the series L'Histoire du Monde. Later in the 1960s, the couple also undertook the creation of an illustrated series of books about military uniforms. L’Encyclopédie des Uniformes et de Armes de Tous les Temps (The Encyclopedia of Uniforms and Arms of All Times) was published in 17 volumes from 1965 to 1982. In 1991, the Funckens were named Knights of the Order of Leopold by King Baudouin of Belgium.