Madeleine Bemelmans (born Madeleine Freund) was an animal rights activist and the wife of Ludwig Bemelmans, who wrote and illustrated the Madeline series of children's picture book series. The two were married in 1935 and Ludwig named the star of his books after his wife. (The change in spelling fostered frequent mis-spelling of his wife's name.)Medeleine Bemelmans was a dedicated participant in founding the Animal Welfare Institute in 1951.