In an organic EL (electroluminescent) display device, which has a substrate having a first principal surface and a second principal surface opposed to the first principal surface and a light emitting material layer formed at the first principal surface of the substrate, a light absorption layer is provided for absorbing light in a wavelength band lying between 350 nm and 410 nm. This light absorption layer is provided at the second principal surface of the substrate opposite to the light emitting material layer and operates to shield the light emitting material layer from the light of the aforementioned wavelength band, which is selectively absorbed by the light emitting material layer. In this way, deterioration of the light emitting material layer can be avoided, so that the organic EL display device can maintain a sufficient display brightness even after being irradiated with excessive external light.