Javad Alizadeh ( fa, جواد علیزاده Javād Alīzādeh ; professional name: Javad; born 9 January 1953) is an Iranian professional cartoonist best known for his caricatures of politicians, comic actors, footballers, and for his scientific/philosophical column (including cartoons, caricatures and satire) titled ''4D Humor'', which has won awards from Italy, China and Japan.
An active artist since 1970, his works have been published in international publications. He is the founder of the leading monthly cartoon magazine ''Humor & Caricature'' and is its founding and current publisher and editor-in-chief.
Early life
Alizadeh was born on 9 January 1953 in
Ardebil
Ardabil (, fa, اردبیل, Ardabīl or ''Ardebīl'') is a city in northwestern Iran, and the capital of Ardabil Province. As of the 2022 census, Ardabil's population was 588,000. The dominant majority in the city are ethnic Iranian Azerbaija ...
, northwestern Iran, and graduated BA in English translation. Influenced by his university degree, he considers writing and drawing cartoons as a tool that can translate sufferings, hardships and the mysteries of life into humorous language.
In 1990 he founded his monthly cartoon magazine ''Humor & Caricature'' and since then he has been the editor and publisher of this independent and private publication. This humorous magazine publishes both pictorial and written humor about various subjects such as politics, sports, cinema, music and philosophy. According to the official website of the magazine, the purpose of the publication is "to promote peace, laughter, tolerance, moderation and multidimensional and multilateral insight in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
".
Alizadeh has also attended numerous cartoon conferences in Japan, Malta, Turkey, Bulgaria, Finland, and has served on the jury of the Skopje 86, Anglet( France ) 91, Dubai 2002, Izmir 2008 cartoon festivals and Tehran Cartoon Biennial in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2005. He has experimented with different styles and genres of humor such as editorial, gags, portrait caricatures and black caricatures, black humor, comic strips, sport humor, surrealistic and philosophical humor, and his works have been published in many leading foreign presses and publications in the 1980s and 1990s by C & W syndicate, including ''
Who's Who
''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...
in Satire and Humor'', ''
Nebelspalter
The ''Nebelspalter'' is a Swiss satirical magazine, which also has a political orientation in its online platform. It was founded in 1875 by Jean Nötzli of Zurich as an "''illustrated humorous political weekly''." The magazine was modelled on B ...
'', ''
Chicago tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'', ''
Courrier International
''Courrier International'' ( French for "International Mail") is a Paris-based French weekly newspaper which translates and publishes excerpts of articles from over 900 international newspapers. It also has a Portuguese and a Japanese edition. '' ...
'', ''
Graphis annual'', ''Osten'', ''Mondial''.
A former staff writer and editor of the Witty World cartoon magazine, Alizadeh is a member of the international Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate. He also holds membership of the Good Humor Party, a humorous party in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
.
Mad Commentator
Alizadeh created a humorous
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
called ''Mad Commentator'' ( fa, مفسر شوت) who rose to fame after correctly "predicting" the result of the opening match between
Argentina and Cameroon at the
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...
.
''4D Humor''
Influenced by
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
and
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
, he created a scientific/philosophical cartoon on the
Theory of Relativity
The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...
titled ''4D Humor''. He has also published a column (including cartoons, caricatures and satire) in his monthly magazine of the same title.
In 2005 the website of the World Year of Physics carried a link to his cartoons about relativism on its "play physics page", showing his scientific cartoons.
In October 2008, his scientific cartoon on
twin paradox
In physics, the twin paradox is a thought experiment in special relativity involving identical twins, one of whom makes a journey into space in a high-speed rocket and returns home to find that the twin who remained on Earth has aged more. Thi ...
in
special relativity
In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory regarding the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's original treatment, the theory is based on two postulates:
# The laws o ...
was shown and studied in the reading class and conference held by CERN Courier.com (The International Journal of High-Energy Physics site) in Trieste, Italy.
Awards
Alizadeh has won some 30 prizes in international cartoon festivals including:
*First Caricature Prize in Anglet Cartoon Festival, France (1990)
*Silver Date prize in
International Festival of the Humor of Bordighera
The International Festival of the Humor of Bordighera was one of the main Festivals devoted to humor, satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-ficti ...
, Italy (1996)
*First Cartoon Prize in Ankara 7-77 Cartoon for the children Festival, Turkey (2007)
*First cartoon prize in Istanbul Aydin dogan cartoon festival, Turkey (2012)
*Honorable mentions at the United Nations/Ranan Lurie Political Cartoon Awards (2016)
*First Caricature Prize in Gallarate Contest, Italy (2019)
Bibliography
Gallery
File:"Attached to the Village" by Javad Alizadeh.jpg, ''Attached to the Village''
File:"Ancient Iran" by Javad Alizadeh.jpg, ''Ancient Iran''
File:"Samuel Beckett" by Javad Alizadeh.jpg, ''Samuel Beckett''
File:Javad alizadeh surreal-Surreal suicide.jpg, ''Surreal Suicide''
File:Javad alizadeh -penetrating-pen.jpg, ''Penetrating Pen''
File:Javad alizadeh ocean-of-sorrow-.jpg, ''Ocean of Sorrow''
File:Javad alizadeh joking-on--amazing-formula.jpg, ''Joking on Amazing Formula''
File:Javad alizadeh hedayat-iranian-black-novelist.jpg, '' Hedayat, Black Novelist''
File:Javad alizadeh divorce-child.jpg, ''Divorce Child''
See also
*
Kioumars Saberi Foumani
Kioumars Saberi Foumani (August 29, 1941 – April 30, 2004) ( fa, کیومرث صابری فومنی) also known with his pen name Gol-Agha ( fa, گل آقا), was an Iranian satirist, writer, and teacher.
Education and personal life
Saberi was ...
References
External links
Official Website
Alizadeh's weblog
Tanz o Caricature's Page
4D Humor
Profileat th
Iran CartoonBilly Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alizadeh, Javad
Iranian satirists
Iranian humorists
People from Ardabil
1953 births
Iranian journalists
Living people
Iranian painters
Iranian bloggers
Iranian comics artists
Iranian cartoonists
Iranian caricaturists