Edmond Kiraz, born Kirazian (25 August 1923 – 11 August 2020) was an Egyptian-born French-Armenian

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

ist and illustrator.

Biography

Born in

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 ...

of Armenian descent, Kiraz began his career as a political cartoonist at 17 (without artistic training) in Egypt, before emigrating to post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1950 he created the comic strip ''Line''. In 1959, while he was working for the French

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

Jours de France ''Jours de France'' is a French news magazine which was created and belonged to French industrialist Marcel Dassault. It succeeded to an earlier magazine called ''Semaine de France'' and was originally intended as a competitor to ''Paris Match''. ...

'', his boss,

Marcel Dassault Marcel Dassault (born Marcel Ferdinand Bloch; 23 January 1892 – 17 April 1986) was a French engineer and industrialist who spent his career in aircraft manufacturing. Early life and education Born on 23 January 1892 in Paris, he was the young ...

, had him move from politics to humor. As time passed, Kiraz developed a distinctive and humorous pictorial style of representing women that he called ''Les Parisiennes:'' very thin, with long legs, small breasts, and a pouty face. His cartoons are often not only humorous but slightly naughty or erotic, and since 1970 he contributed regularly to ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' magazine.

Cartoon collections

* ''Lissi'', Diogène, 1954. * ''Carnet de belles'', Pulcinella, 1959. * ''Les Parisiennes (Parisian Women)'', Denoël, 1963. * ''Les Parisiennes au volant'', Denoël, 1966. * ''La Parfaite Secrétaire'', Denoël, 1967. * ''Parlez-moi de moi : les Parisiennes'', Denoël, 1973. * ''Sonate à quatre mains'', Filipacchi-Denoël, 1978. * ''Les Femmes de Kiraz'', Plon, 1985. * ''Les Parisiennes se marient'', Assouline, 1994. * ''Je les aime comme ça (I Like Them That Way)'', Denoël, 2000. * ''Jamais le premier soir (Never the First Night)'', Denoël, 2001. * ''Kiraz dans Playboy (Kiraz in ''Playboy'')'', Denoël, 2002. * ''Elles et moi (The Girls and I)'', Denoël, 2003. * ''Mini drames'', Denoël, 2005.

References

External links

Kiraz' website
1923 births 2020 deaths Egyptian people of Armenian descent Egyptian emigrants to France French people of Armenian descent French cartoonists Egyptian cartoonists French comics artists Egyptian comics artists French erotic artists Egyptian erotic artists Artists from Cairo {{cartoonist-stub