So far we learned about Peyo's childhood and that his career as a illustrator was interrupted during WWII and thus Peyo had to struggle for himself after the end of the war.
But there is another important aspect which has to be added to the history of the smurfs. While Peyo had been working at that film company called CBA, he had already created some dwarfs for a film, which unfortunetly was never competely shot. Those dwarfs were most likely influenced by Walt Disney's animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".
In 1952, Peyo was helped by his former collegue Franquin, who found a suitable job for him at Spirou, which was a very famous Belgian comic magazine at that time. Peyo elaborated on the middle ages series Johan and Peewit, which he had started earlier on.
Thus, the dwarfs and the middle age series of Johan and Peewit were significant for the development of the smurfs.
Finally, things changed for Peyo completely, when he introduced the Smurfs as minor characters in the Johan & Peewit story "The Flute has Six Holes", which was published on October 23rd, 1958 in Spirou.
Dad and first board
It's just that I'm trying to rearrange the pics and the report. 
Sending you a big hug, my smurfy brother. 
We Love Smurfs 
Nance