Maria Björnson

Maria Björnson studied at Byam Shaw School of Art and Central School of Art and Design. The recorded working language is French. Employment is recorded with Central Saint Martins. Distinctions recorded are Tony Award for Best Costume Design, Tony Award for Best Scenic Design, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design.

• Name — Maria Björnson • Birth Name — Maria Elena Björnson • Born — 16 February 1949 • Birthplace — Paris, France • Died — 13 December 2002 • Place of death — London, England • Field — * Theatre design • costume design • Training — * Byam Shaw School of Art • Central School of Art and Design • Awards — * Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, 1988 • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design, 1988 • Tony Award for Best Scenic Design, 1988 • Tony Award for Best Costume Design, 1988

• Illustration — Her grave, in Kensal Green Cemetery Björnson was born in Paris on 16 February 1949. Her father Bjørn was a businessman from Norway; her mother, Mia Prodan (full name Maria Prodan de Kisbunn), was from Romania. Both were from theatrical families. Björnson was raised by her mother in London. She studied at the Lycée Français, and then at the Byam Shaw School of Art and at the Central School of Art and Design. She designed sets and costumes for theatre, ballet and opera. She worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and designed Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera – for which she won a Tony Award for Best Scenic Design and for Best Costume Design, and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design and for Outstanding Costume Design – and the Trevor Nunn production of Aspects of Love. Björnson was course director for theatre design at the Central School of Art and Design. She died of epilepsy at her home in Hammersmith on Friday 13 December 2002, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. She was 53.