Short answers, pulled from the story.
Isao Takahata was a Japanese director, screenwriter, and producer, born on the 29th of October, 1935, in Ujiyamada, Mie Prefecture. He was a co-founder of Studio Ghibli and directed films including Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Only Yesterday (1991), Pom Poko (1994), and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013).
Takahata's directorial debut was The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun, released in 1968 while he was working at Toei Animation. Though it was a commercial failure at the time and led to his demotion, it is now recognized as one of the first defining works of modern Japanese animation.
Studio Ghibli was formed in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Toshio Suzuki, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma, following the commercial and critical success of Miyazaki's 1984 film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Takahata served as both a director and producer at the studio throughout its early decades.
Yes. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 87th Academy Awards when it reached Western markets in 2014. It was Takahata's final film as director.
While studying French literature at the University of Tokyo, Takahata saw the French animated film Le Roi et l'Oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird), which sparked his interest in animation as a medium. He graduated in 1959 and joined Toei Animation as an assistant director after passing their entrance exam.
Isao Takahata died on the 5th of April, 2018, at a hospital in Tokyo, at the age of 82, having been diagnosed with lung cancer. A farewell ceremony was held on the 15th of May, 2018, at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo.