Erik Blegvad was born in Copehagen, Denmark in 1923. There he attended the Copenhagen School of Arts and Crafts along with friend and illustrator Niels M. Bodecker. Blegvad was a prolific illustrator of children's books, with over 100 titles to his name, including seven written by his wife. He also drew magazine and newspaper illustrations. During the Nazi occupation of Denmark, he and a friend were arrested by the Gestapo for distributing Danish resistance literature. He then spend "several frightening days" in prison before being released. He later served in the Danish Air Force, then worked as a translator for the British in occupied Germany. After meeting his wife, Lenore Hochman in Paris, they moved to the United States. Some of Blegvad's most famous works include illustrations for Mary Norton’s *Bedknob and Broomstick*, his own translations of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, and works by O. Henry, Myra Cohn Livingston, Judith Viorst, Jane Langton, and Charlotte Zolotow. The Times of London wrote, "His minutely detailed brush and pen drawings recalled the myths and stories that his grandfather had told him during his boyhood in Denmark. He was described by the American writer and artist Edward Gorey as one of the best of his generation."