Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse (January 2, 1918 – December 13, 2019) was a German type designer, calligrapher and book-binder. She was the 1991 winner of the Frederic W. Goudy Award. She also designed several fonts.
Life
She was born in Schwerin, Germany. In her early years, she worked with Rudolf Koch and Edward Johnston.
From 1946 to 1954, Von Hesse taught lettering at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. She was hired by the Stempel foundry in Frankfurt to design typefaces, and went on to a successful career as a typographer with Stempel.
In 2001, she was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Friends of Calligraphy. She turned 100 in January 2018.
From 1951 until his death in 2015, she was married to Hermann Zapf. They had one son Christian, who died in 2012. She lived in Darmstadt, Germany. She died on December 13, 2019 at the age of 101.
Created designs
Alcuin (URW Hamburg) Ariadne (Stempel) Carmina (Bitstream) Christiana (Berthold) Columbine (URW Hamburg) Diotima (Stempel) Hesse-Antiqua (2018, Monotype, with Ferdinand Ulrich) Nofret (Berthold) Shakespeare (Hallmark) Smaragd (Stempel)