Eduardo Humberto del Río García (June 20, 1934 – August 8, 2017), better known by his pen name Rius, was a Mexican intellectual,
political cartoonist and writer born in
Zamora
Zamora may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions
Europe
Spain
* Zamora, Spain, a city in the autonomous community of Castilla y León
* Province of Zamora, a province in the autonomous community of Castilla y León
* Associated with the city and ...
, Michoacán.
One of the most popular Mexican cartoonists, Rius has written over a hundred books that remain widely popular, especially amongst his Mexican readers. Rius was a fierce political activist, and his
progressive
Progressive may refer to:
Politics
* Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform
** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
and left-wing point of view is often present in his writings, accompanied by a strong criticism about
neoliberal Mexican doctrines,
US Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
policies, and the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. He used to be an open advocate of the
Cuban revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cour ...
as in ''
Cuba for Beginners'' and a strong
Soviet bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
sympathizer until the end of the Cold War.
In the 1960s he began cartooning in magazines and newspapers, sometimes regarding political themes. He made two famous comics, ''Los Supermachos'' and ''Los agachados'', which were a humorous criticism of the Mexican government. After his successes with these, he made many books, all illustrated and written by hand by him and covering a range of topics on politics, vegetarianism, and religion. His books have become popular mainly because of their humour, which attempts to reach the general reader, as well as for their simplicity and intellectual acuteness. They give an overview of their theme without becoming difficult.
In 1970, the first English edition of Rius's book ''Cuba para principiantes'', a humorous comic strip presentation of Cuban history and revolution, was published in the United States as ''Cuba for Beginners''. The book made no particularly great impact, but the 1976 English language publication of ''Marx for Beginners'', a translation of his ''Marx para principiantes'' (1972), a
comic strip representation of the life and ideas of
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
, became an international bestseller and kicked off the ''
For Beginners
For Beginners LLC is a publishing company based in Danbury, Connecticut, that publishes the ''For Beginners'' graphic nonfiction series of documentary comic books on complex topics, covering an array of subjects on the college level. Meant to ap ...
'' series of books from
Writers and Readers
For Beginners LLC is a publishing company based in Danbury, Connecticut, that publishes the ''For Beginners'' graphic nonfiction series of documentary comic books on complex topics, covering an array of subjects on the college level. Meant to ap ...
and later
Icon Books
Richard Appignanesi (born December 20, 1940) is a Canadian writer and editor. He was the originating editor of the internationally successful illustrated ''For Beginners'' book series (since 1991 called the '' Introducing...'' series), as well ...
.
In the 1990s, he participated in two political humour magazines: ''El Chahuistle'' and ''El Chamuco'' (named after an insect plague and the devil, respectively, because they were harsh on politicians and religious leaders).
His success and long career have made him a reference point to the newer generations of political cartoonists in México. Mexican director
Alfonso Arau made ''
Calzonzin Inspector'', a live action film based on characters appearing in ''Los Supermachos'' that was released in 1974.
He died on August 8, 2017 at the age of 83.
Fallece el caricaturista Eduardo del Río, "Rius"
/ref>
Selected bibliography of Rius's books
*''Economía para ignorantes (en economía). (Economics for Dummies (In Economics))''
*''Filosofía para principiantes (Desde Platón hasta hace rato) (Philosophy for Beginners: From Plato up to a Little While Ago)''
*''La panza es primero (The Stomach Is First)''
*''Marx para principiantes (Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
for Beginners)''
*''Puré de Papas (Mashed Potatoes/Pope Purée)'' (about the history of the heads of the Catholic Church; a play on words)
*''500 años fregados pero cristianos (500 years screwed but Christian
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...
)''
*''ABChe'' (about )
*''Kama Nostra (referring to the Kama Sutra) ''Our Bed
*''Cuba para principiantes (Cuba for Beginners)''
*''La Biblia: Esa linda tontería (The Bible: That Cute Nonsense)''
*''La deuda externa y cómo no pagarla (The External Debt and How Not to Pay It)''
*''Manual del perfecto ateo (Manual of the Perfect Atheist)''
*''Mis supermachos (My Supermachos)''
*''La Iglesia y otros cuentos (The Church and Other Tales)''
*''Lástima de Cuba (Too bad for Cuba)''
*''Los Panuchos'' (history of the National Action Party, or PAN)
*''Machismo, feminismo y homosexualismo (Sexism, Feminism, and Homosexualism)''
*''El pequeño Rius Ilustrado'' (an illustrated Rius mini-dictionary)
*''Rius para principiantes (Rius for Beginners)''
*''Herejes, ateos y malpensados (vol. I y II) (Heretics, Atheists, and Disingenous)''
*''Cómo dejar de comer (mal) (How to Stop Eating (Poorly))''
*''La mamá del Quijote (Quijote's Mom)''
*''De músico, poeta y loco... (Of Musician, Poet, and Crazy Person...)''
*''Cristo de carne y hueso (Christ of Flesh and Blood)''
*''Jesús alias el Cristo (Jesus Alias the Christ)''
*''Filatelia para cuerdos (Philatelia for Sane People)''
*''RecetaRIUS: 100 propuestas para salvar lo que queda de México (RecipeRIUS: 100 Proposals to Save What Is Left of Mexico)''
*''Con perdón de Doré (y de la Biblia) (Forgive Me, Doré (And Forgive Me, Bible))''
*''Su Majestad el PRI (His Majesty PRI)''
*''El católico preguntón (The Annoying Catholic)''
*''Pobrecito Japón (Poor Japan)''
*''Marihuana y otras debilidades (Marijuana and Other Weaknesses)''
*''Osama Tío Sam (Osama Uncle Sam)''
*''El libro de las malas palabras (The Book of Bad Words)''
*''El fracaso de la educación en México (The Failure of Mexican Education)''
*''El diablo se llama Trotsky (The Devil is Named Trotsky)''
*''El mundo del fin del mundo (The World of the End of the World)''
*''De aborto, sexo y otros pecados (Of Abortion, sex, and Other Sins)''
*''Descubriendo a Colón (Discovering Columbus)''
*''La cultura no muerde (Culture Doesn't Bite)''
*''El otro Rius (The Other Rius)''
*''La interminable conquista de México (The Endless Conquest of Mexico)''
*''El amor en tiempos del SIDA (Love in Time of AIDS)''
*''La droga que refresca (The Refreshing Drug)'' (about Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atla ...
)
*''Cuba libre (The Free Cuba)''
*''¡Ya te vimos, Pinochet! (Gotcha, Pinochet!)''
*''Diccionario de estupidez humana (The Dictionary of Human Stupidity)''
*''Sería católico jesucristo? (Would Jesus Christ Have Been Catholic?)''
*''MAS herejes, ateos y malpensados (MORE Heretics, Atheists, and Disingenous)''
*''La verdadera historia del tío Sam (The True History of Uncle Sam)''
*''Marihuana, cocaína y otros viajes (Marijuana, Cocaine, and Other Trips)''
*''El supermercado de las sectas (The Supermarket of Sects)''
*''Trukulenta historia del kapitalismo (The Trikky History of Kapitalism)''
*''La revolucioncita mexicana (The Little Mexican Revolution)''
*''TodoRius (AllRius)''
*''Votas y te vas (Vote and Leave)''
*''Horóscopos, tarot y otras tomadas de pelo (Horoscopes, Tarot, and Other Frauds)''
*''Atlas para niños y niñas (An Atlas for Children)''
*''Quetzalcóatl no era del PRI (Quetzalcoatl Wasn't with the PRI)''
*''Los agachados (The Crouched)''
References
External links
Website about Rius
(in Spanish)
Rius' recent works
(in Spanish, last updated August 2006)
Current articles from Rius
from Vinculando.org (in Spanish)
Webpage about issue #1 of comic book ''Los Supermachos''
from Los Supermachos Remasterizados (in Spanish)
El Chamuco
official web site of ''El Chamuco'', a comic magazine about Mexican politics and critics founded by Rius (in Spanish)
{{Authority control
1934 births
2017 deaths
Mexican cartoonists
Mexican comics artists
Critics of the Catholic Church
Mexican atheism activists
People from Zamora, Michoacán
Writers from Michoacán
Artists from Michoacán
20th-century atheists
21st-century atheists