Eduard Thöny (9 February 1866 - 26 July 1950) was a German

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Abril Lamarque (1904–1999) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfre ...

and illustrator known for his work for the journal ''

Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel ''Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus'' and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a German language, German weekly satire, satirical magazine, founded by Albert ...

'', to which he was invited to contribute by

Albert Langen Albert Langen (8 July 1869 – 30 April 1909) was a German publisher and founder of the satirical publication ''Simplicissimus''. Early years Langen was, after Martha and Martin, the third of four children born to Antwerp industrialist Friedrich ...

. Born in

Brixen Brixen (; , ; or , ) is a town and communes of Italy, commune in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography Brixen is the third-largest city and oldest town in the province, with a population of nearly twenty-three t ...

, he studied at the arts academy in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

.Eduard Thöny Biography
/ref> His work for ''Simplicissimus'' included more than 2,500 pages of cartoons used to lampoon German society and the military. Thöny's drawings would appear in the journal until it ceased publication in 1944. In 1904 Thöny traveled to

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

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in company with fellow artists

Ludwig Thoma Ludwig Thoma (; 21 January 1867 in Oberammergau – 26 August 1921 in Tegernsee) was a German author, publisher and editor, who gained popularity through his partially exaggerated description of everyday Bavarian life. After graduation from t ...

and Rudolf Wilke. In 1906 Thöny, along with Olaf Gulbransson, Thoma, and Wilke, persuaded Langen to convert ''Simplicissimus'' into a

joint stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...

, thereby giving more power to the staff to control the journal's direction. He died at Holzhausen on the

Ammersee Ammersee (; English: Lake Ammer) is a '' Zungenbecken'' lake in Upper Bavaria, Germany, southwest of Munich between the towns of Herrsching and Dießen am Ammersee. With a surface area of approximately , it is the sixth largest lake in Germany ...

The period of National Socialism

Thöny was a highly esteemed artist during the Nazi era. He received honors and awards. In 1933, he was made an honorary member of the Munich Art Academy and on April 20, 1938, Adolf Hitler appointed him professor, an honorary title without office or salary. In 1941, he received the Goethe Medal for Art and Science. He was represented with a total of 38 works at the Great German Art Exhibitions at the Munich Haus der Deutschen Kunst, including the oil painting Westwallarbeiter and the color chalk drawing Tiroler Bauern in 1940, and the oil painting Waffen-SS im Einsatz in 1943. In the final phase of World War II, Hitler included him in the Gottbegnadeten list in August 1944. He was also a member of the German National Council.

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was conce ...

: ''Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, , S. 612.

References

External links

Lambiek Comiclopedia article.
1866 births 1950 deaths People from Brixen People from the County of Tyrol German caricaturists German editorial cartoonists 20th-century German illustrators {{Germany-artist-stub