{{short description|American graphic designer and illustrator}} '''Nicolas Sidjakov''' (December 16, 1924 – June 20, 1993)<ref name=SSDI/> was an American commercial artist and illustrator. He was a co-founder of '''Sidjakov & Berman Associates''' and later '''Sidjakov, Berman & Gomez''' design firms.

== Biography == Sidjakov was born in Riga, Latvia. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, worked in advertising, and freelanced for the French movie industry. In 1954 he moved to the United States and continued to work in advertising. He also began to illustrate children's books, mainly picture books, beginning with ''The Friendly Beasts'' by Laura Nelson Baker, adapted from "The Friendly Beasts", an English Christmas carol. It was published in 1957 by Parnassus Press of Berkeley, California.

Parnassus was a small press established only that year by Herman Schein, whose wife Ruth Robbins was a writer and illustrator.<ref name=parnassus/> During the next several years it published at least three picture books created by Robbins, as writer, and Sidjakov.<ref name=worldcat/> The first was ''Baboushka and the Three Kings'', retelling the "Russian folktale about an old woman's endless search for the Christ child".<ref name=baboushka/> For that work he received the annual Caldecott Medal from the American Library Association in 1961, as illustrator of the previous year's "most distinguished American picture book for children".<ref name=caldecott/>

From 1945 to the 1970s, San Francisco was a hub of creativity and Sidjakov was in the thick of it. He designed more than he illustrated and there were many accolades for him in the advertising annuals of the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name=CC/>

In 1978, he and Jerry Berman formed the design firm of Sidjakov & Berman Associates, then Sidjakov, Berman & Gomez in 1981. In 1987 the company became part of the British-owned WPP Group plc and is now known as Enterprise IG, San Francisco.<ref>''Communication Arts'', May/June 2002. {{full|date=July 2014}}</ref>

Sidjakov was a resident of Sausalito in Marin County, California, when he died in 1993.<ref name=SSDI/>

==Selected works==

;Picture books illustrated <!-- 2014-07-21 these are his 6 books most widely held in WorldCat libraries<ref name=worldcat/> --> * ''The Friendly Beasts'', written by Laura Nelson Baker (Berkeley, CA: Parnassus Press, 1959) – adapted from "The Friendly Beasts", {{OCLC|1003721}} * ''Baboushka and the Three Kings'', Ruth Robbins (Parnassus, 1960) – adapted from Russian folklore, {{OCLC|169200}}<ref name=baboushka>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Baboushka_and_the_Three_Kings.html?id=TGfQDm0H44MC "Baboushka and the Three Kings"]. Google Books. Retrieved 2014-07-26. Internally the note quotes a ''Booklist'' review: "The strikingly effective pictures are distinctive in design and rich in color."</ref> * ''The Emperor and the Drummer Boy'', Ruth Robbins (Parnassus, 1962) – published simultaneously in French, the Emperor is Napoleon, {{OCLC|301389}} * ''Harlequin and Mother Goose, or, The Magic Stick'', Ruth Robbins (Parnassus, 1965) – based on English Harlequinade, {{OCLC|171051291}} * ''A Lodestone and a Toadstone'', Irene Elmer (Alfred A. Knopf, 1969), {{OCLC|50979}} * ''Staffan: an old Christmas folk song'', translated from Swedish (Parnassus, 1970), {{OCLC|8032547}}

==References== {{Reflist |25em |refs= <ref name=SSDI> [http://www.mocavo.com/Nicolas-Sidjakov-1924-1993-Social-Security-Death-Index/11634128467792660820 "Nicolas Sidjakov (1924–1993)"]. ''Social Security Death Index'' database online at Mocavo.com (Boulder, CO: 2013). Data from the United States Social Security Administration. Retrieved 2014-07-21.</ref> <ref name=CC> [http://communityofcreatives.com/nicolas-sidjakov "Nicolas Sidjakov"]. Community of Creatives: San Francisco Visual Creative Community 1945–1970 (communityofcreatives.com). Retrieved 2014-07-21.</ref> <ref name=worldcat> [http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-no2003-121514 "Sidjakov, Nicolas"]. WorldCat. Retrieved 2014-07-21.</ref>

<ref name=caldecott> [http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal "Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938–Present"]. Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). American Library Association (ALA).<br> &nbsp; [http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/aboutcaldecott/aboutcaldecott "The Randolph Caldecott Medal"]. ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2014-07-21.</ref> <ref name=parnassus> Sieruta, Peter D. (March 2, 2011). [http://collectingchildrensbooks.blogspot.com/2011/03/smud-ged-in-earthsea.html "Smud-ged in Earthsea"]. ''Collecting Children's Books'' (collectingchildrensbooks.blogspot.com). Retrieved 2014-07-21.</ref>

}}

==External links== * [http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/xml/CLRC-71.xml Nicolas Sidjakov Papers] at CLRC, University of Minnesota – with biographical sketch * [http://sweetjanespopboutique.blogspot.ca/2012/04/linweave-tarot-1967-illustrations-of-hy.html Linweave Tarot 1967, The illustrations of Hy Roth, Ron Rae, David Mario Palladini and Nicolas Sidjakov (part one) ] * {{LCAuth|no2003121514|Nicolas Sidjakov|4|}}

{{Portal bar |Children's literature |Visual arts }} <!-- delete the word "bar" if there are enough ordinary See also --> {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidjakov III, Nicolas}} Category:American children's book illustrators Category:American graphic designers Category:Caldecott Medal winners Category:Soviet expatriates in France Category:Artists from Riga Category:1924 births Category:1993 deaths Category:Soviet emigrants to the United States Category:Artists from San Francisco Category:20th-century American designers Category:20th-century American illustrators