Bahgat Muhammad Osman (1931–2001) (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: بهجت محمد عثمان) was an Egyptian

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

, most widely known as for his political cartoons and children's book illustrations throughout most of the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

Early life

Osman was born in the Boulaq district of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

in 1931. Ahmad Shukry, his fourth grade art instructor, discovered Osman's talent and was one of his first supporters until he moved to the secondary school where he met his first mentor Yusuf Raafat. He later enter the

College of Fine Arts in Cairo Cairo College of Fine Arts is a school of fine arts established in Cairo in 1908 and is now the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Helwan University. History The College of Fine Arts was founded by Yusuf Kamal in 1908. More than 150 students were en ...

where he studied

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. Soon after graduation, Osman worked as an art instructor in the district of Al-Mansoura.

Politics

During the 1960s and 1970s, Osman was a political cartoonist. He sought exile in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

from the regime of

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

. He returned to Cairo soon after Sadat's assassination in 1981.

Work

While working at the private school of Mansoura, Osman drew caricatures. These caricatures were promptly rejected when Osman offered them first to Dar El-Hilal due to their political content. However,

Rose al-Yūsuf ''Rose al-Yūsuf'' ( ar, روز اليوسف; also written ''Rose al-Yousef'') is an Arabic weekly political magazine published in Egypt. History and profile ''Rose al-Yūsuf'' was first published on 26 October 1925. The magazine was named afte ...

published his works in the belief that, in the words of the magazine's editor-in-chief, "if they were refused by Dar El-Hilal, then they must be very good." In 1957, the newspaper Al Messa hired him full-time for two years. Subsequently, Osman returned to Rose al-Yūsuf to join a team that then contributed in the success of their weekly publication Sabah El-Kheir. In the early 1980s Bahgat returned from exile to Egypt to work with the opposition newspaper, Al Ahali. In addition to the publication of daily and weekly caricatures, Osman contributed in publishing over 20 children's books and comics and illustrated

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

's Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as book covers and entire politically opinionated books such as "Bagatos - President of Great Bahgatia", "Hokouma wa Ahali" (Government and People), and "Diwan Bahagigo" in an attempt to criticize the Egyptian status quo.

Publications where he worked

* Sabah el Kheir * Al Ahali *

Al Messa ''Al Messa'' (in Arabic المساء, literally, ''The Evening'') is an Arabic daily newspaper published in Cairo, Egypt. History and profile ''Al Masaa'' was founded in October 1956. From its start to March 1959 the paper was edited by Marxis ...

* Al Mesawer * Al Kawakib *

Hawaa ''Hawaa'' (Arabic: ''Eve'') is a weekly women's magazines published in Cairo, Egypt. The magazine is modelled by other women's magazines in the Arab countries. It was Egypt's first women's magazine, founded in 1954. History and profile ''Hawaa'' ...

* Al Hilal * Sameer (children's comic) * Majed (children's comic) * Ala'ddin (children's comic) * Al Arabi Al Sagheer (children's comic)

Published books

* Diktatorya lil Mubtadeen (Dictatorship for beginners) * Bahgatos Ra'ees Bahgatia Alozma (Bahgatos President of Bahgatia The Greatest) * Hokuma wa Ahali (Government and People) * Dehkaat Majnoona Jiddan (Very Crazy Laughs) * Sadaka Bela Hudood (Friendship without Boundaries) * Kunto Hemaran (I was a Donkey)

Political opinion and withdrawal

After the

Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retrea ...

of 1978, Osman stopped drawing adult comics and instead started drawing for children's books and comics. He dedicated much of his work to women. He and his wife Badr Hamada traveled around the Arab world to draw attention to children's rights and education, as well as contributing to children's artistic education in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. Osman died at home at the age of 69, on June 3, 2001, a few months after his wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osman, Bahgat 1931 births 2001 deaths Egyptian editorial cartoonists Egyptian comics artists Egyptian illustrators Egyptian children's book illustrators College of Fine Arts in Cairo alumni Artists from Cairo