Victor Weisz (25 April 1913 in Berlin, Germany – 23 February 1966 in London, England) was a German-British
political cartoonist
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curren ...
, drawing under the name of Vicky.
Biography
![INF3-54 Admiral of the Fleet Lord Chatfield Artist Vicky](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/INF3-54_Admiral_of_the_Fleet_Lord_Chatfield_Artist_Vicky.jpg)
Weisz was born in Berlin, Germany, to Hungarian-Jewish parents. He studied at the
Berlin School of Art and by 1928, at the age of fifteen, he was working as a freelancer, drawing caricatures. His father committed suicide that same year and Weisz began work with the journal ''12 Uhr Blatt''. His work also appeared in other German newspapers.
Weisz's cartoons took a very strong anti-
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
stance. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they took over the journal where Weisz worked. As a member of the Jewish community with expressed socialist opinions, Weisz decided to leave Germany.
In 1935, he went to the United Kingdom, and worked for the ''
News Chronicle
The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...
'', ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' and ''
Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
''. He maintained an independent stance, whatever the political hue of his employers (
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
,
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
and
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
respectively), and built a reputation as an incisive commentator on political events.
At the ''Daily Mirror'', Weisz published the ''Nazi Nugget'' series. By the 1940s, Weisz, using the pseudonym "Vicky", was one of the leading British left-wing cartoonists. Weisz worked alongside fellow left-wing cartoonist
Philip Zec
Philip Zec (25 December 1909 – 14 July 1983) was a British political cartoonist and editor. Moving from the advertising industry to drawing political cartoons due to his abhorrence of the rise of fascism, Donald Zec (journalist)"Zec, Philip (190 ...
at the ''Mirror'' and replaced him as the paper's chief political cartoonist in 1954.
In the 1950s boom years, many observers felt that the Prime Minister
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...
's demeanour as an Edwardian aristocrat was out of step with the times. "Vicky", as the lead political cartoonist of the ''News Chronicle'', ridiculed him as '
Supermac
The SuperMac was a line of Macintosh clones produced by UMAX Technologies from 1996 to 1998. Their models included the SuperMac S900/S910, J700, C500 and C500e/i/LT, C600e/v/LT/x and Aegis 200. The C500 was marketed as the Apus 2000 in Europe. Th ...
', a spoof on the American comic-strip hero
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
. Contrary to the cartoonist's intention, the title Supermac benefited Macmillan, who went on to increase his parliamentary majority at the
1959 General Election. Earlier in the 1950s, Vicky had produced some memorable cartoons of Macmillan's predecessor,
Sir Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957.
Achieving rapid promo ...
, which made effective use of the
Homburg hat
A homburg is a semi-formal hat of fur felt, characterized by a single dent running down the centre of the crown (called a "gutter crown"), a wide silk grosgrain hatband ribbon, a flat brim shaped in a "pencil curl", and a ribbon-bound trim abo ...
that had been Eden's "trademark" in the 1930s.
Victor Weisz followed his father in suffering from
depression and
insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...
; he committed suicide at his London home on 23 February 1966 aged 52, dying at 22
Upper Wimpole Street
Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian baroque architecture, compl ...
,
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
. He left a widow, Inglelore Weisz, and an estate valued at £22,322.
["WEISZ Victor of 22 Upper Wimpole Street London W.1" in ''Wills and Administrations 1966 (England and Wales)'' (1967), p. 257]
References
Further reading
* Davies, Russell and Ottaway, Liz ''Vicky'' London: Secker & Warburg, 1987
External links
British Cartoon Archiveat the
University of Kent
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...
has a database of over 4,000 cartoons by Vicky and
biographical article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisz, Victor
1913 births
1966 deaths
British editorial cartoonists
German editorial cartoonists
British caricaturists
German caricaturists
German people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Jewish artists
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
Artists from Berlin
Artists who committed suicide
Suicides in Westminster
1966 suicides