Oğuz Aral (1936 – 26 July 2004) was a Turkish political

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and comics artist, known for his

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

style. He was also active as a theatre designer, playwright, ceramist and animator, establishing the first Turkish animation studio.

Biography

Born in

Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek language, Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 217,163 (2022). It lies along the Sea of Marmara, outsi ...

, Istanbul Province, he founded the cartoon magazine ''

Gırgır ''Gırgır'' (meaning ''Fun'' in English) was a Turkish weekly humor magazine published from 1972 to 1993 in Turkey. History and profile ''Gırgır'' was founded in 1972 by the brothers Oğuz Aral (1936-2004) and Tekin Aral (1941-1999). After hav ...

'' (''Fun'') with his brother Tekin Aral, and created such characters as "Avanak Avni" (Avni the Gullible), "Köstebek Hüsnü" (Hüsnü the Mole), "Utanmaz Adam" (the Shameless Man) and "Vites Mahmut" (Mahmut the Gearbox). ''GırGır'' was one of the best selling cartoon magazines in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in the 1970s with nearly a million copies a week. Called the "godfather" of Turkish cartoonists, Aral mentored scores of young artists, helping them publish their comics. ''Gırgır'', known to be outstandingly critical of all social ills, was banned after the 1980 military coup, but Oğuz Aral's cartoons still ran in the newspaper ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

'' until his death in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

. Oğuz Aral was interred at the

Zincirlikuyu Cemetery The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery () is a modern burial ground in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of politics, business, sports and arts rest here. The ce ...

in Istanbul. He is survived by a son.

References

External links

* Biyografi.net
''Biography of Oğuz Aral''

1936 births 2004 deaths People from Silivri Turkish editorial cartoonists Turkish political artists Turkish comics artists Turkish satirists Turkish dramatists and playwrights Turkish animators Turkish animated film directors Turkish animated film producers Turkish ceramists Theatre designers Burials at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery Turkish magazine founders {{cartoonist-stub