Jean Briggs: Who Was Raymond Briggs Wife?

Jean Briggs was the wife of Raymond Redvers Briggs CBE, a British illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. The pair got married in 1963 untill her death in 1973, ten years after they got married.

Jean was a very supportive spouse. However, she suffered from schizophrenia and died from leukaemia in 1973, two years after Briggs’ parents’ death. Jean and Briggs did not have any children.

There’s no further information on Jean. Sadly, Raymond Briggs passed away on August 9, 2022, 49 years after the death of his wife Jean.

Ranging from the enchanting magic of The Snowman to a devastating apocalypse in When the Wind Blows, Briggs created a host of much-loved characters including his angst-ridden Fungus the Bogeyman and his curmudgeonly version of Father Christmas.

A career spanning six decades brought him numerous awards, with television adaptations making him a fixture of British Christmas viewing.

Briggs won the 1992 Kurt Maschler Award, or the Emil, both for writing and for illustrating The Man, a short graphic novel featuring a boy and a homunculus. The award annually recognised one British children’s book for integration of text and illustration.

Briggs’ graphic novel Ethel & Ernest, which portrayed his parents’ 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1999 British Book Awards. In 2016, it was turned into a hand-drawn animated film.

In 2012, Briggs became the first person to be inducted into the British Comic Awards Hall of Fame.