Theodore Nadejen (1889–1974)

Theodor Nadejen (1889-1974) was a painter, designer and book illustrator. Born in Kharkov, Ukraine in 1889, he fled the revolution in his homeland in 1917, arriving in the United States at the port of Vanceboro, Maine, on April 15, 1918. From there he made his way to New York City, where he worked as a stage decorator, and sought work as an illustrator. He became a naturalized citizen in the 1920s, and in 1931 he was married to the author and translator Ida Zeitlin, whose books he illustrated. The couple eventually moved to California, where Nadejen died in 1974.