Sir Gordon Edward George Minhinnick (13 June 1902 – 19 February 1992) was a New Zealand cartoonist. He was born at Torpoint,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, England, educated at

Kelly College Kelly College was a coeducational independent school in the English public school tradition situated in the outskirts of Tavistock, Devon, with around 350 students ranging from ages 3 to 18. There was an associated preparatory school for prima ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, and left for New Zealand in 1921 where he studied architecture for four years. In 1926 he joined the ''New Zealand Free Lance'' as cartoonist, but soon transferred to the ''Christchurch Sun'' and thence to the ''Auckland Sun''. He joined the '' New Zealand Herald'' as a political cartoonist in 1930 and although he officially retired in 1976, contributed cartoons to the newspaper for more than another decade. In the 1950 King's Birthday Honours, Minhinnick was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, and in the 1976 Queen's Birthday Honours he was promoted to

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

), for services as a cartoonist.

Career

Grant (1987) describes Minhinnick as "pre-eminent among New Zealand cartoonists. His work for the country's largest newspaper was widely syndicated and of a consistently high standard; witty rather than barbed, and with a feel for caricature that gave the cartoons an added dimension". Minhinnick was strongly influenced by New Zealand cartoonist David Low, and was offered, but declined, Low's job at the

London 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 ...

when Low left the London newspaper in 1949. Minhinnick also taught

Les Gibbard Les Gibbard (26 October 1945 – 10 October 2010) was a New Zealand-British political cartoonist, journalist, illustrator and animator. As a political cartoonist at ''The Guardian'' newspaper for 25 years, Gibbard became the longest-serving artist ...

(the cartoonist who went on to replace

Bill Papas William "Bill" Papas (15 July 1927 – 19 June 2000) was a political cartoonist and caricaturist, book author and illustrator, and watercolourist. In the 1960s and 1970s he worked for ''The Guardian'', ''The Sunday Times'' and ''Punch''. His wor ...

, Low's successor, then at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'') in Auckland during the 1950s. Minhinnick illustrated several popular New Zealand books ("Murphy's Moa", "From N to Z", "Trout at Taupo", "Four Seasons of Country Diary" ), and he regularly published collections of his work (such as "The Minhinnick annual", "Min's Sauce" to "Just a Min").

Death

Minhinnick was buried at Purewa Cemetery in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank.

References

External links

Biography at Te Ara/Encyclopaedia of New ZealandEssay at Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
(Retrieved 7 Oct 2008)

- ''"Better not interfere, old boy - he might lose his temper!"'', Gordon Minhinnick, New Zealand Herald, 7 January 1964
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Minhinnick, Gordon New Zealand cartoonists New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Torpoint People educated at Kelly College British emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand people of Cornish descent 1902 births 1992 deaths Burials at Purewa Cemetery