Maurice Albert Sinet (; 31 December 1928 – 5 May 2016), known professionally as Siné (), was a French

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 current ...

. His work is noted for its

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with an alternati ...

anti-clericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to clergy, religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secul ...

anti-colonialism Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolon ...

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, and

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6342558

Biography

In reviewing ''Siné Massacre'', the British satirical magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

'' described Siné's cartoons as "grotesque", and criticised publisher

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

for its managerial incompetence. In 1965 Siné became involved in a power struggle at

. During an attempt by chief editor

Tony Godwin Anthony Richard James Wylie Godwin (17 December 1919 – 15 March 1976) was an influential British publisher of the 1960s/1970s. His contribution to the publishing industry is recognized in the form of the Tony Godwin Memorial Trust. Born in Ledb ...

and the board of directors to remove the company founder

Allen Lane Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fictio ...

, Lane stole and burned the entire print run of the English edition of Siné's book ''Massacre'', which was reportedly deeply offensive.

Death

Siné died after undergoing surgery at a hospital in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 5 May 2016, aged 87. He had been battling cancer for several years.

Controversy and sacking

In 1982, regarding Israel and Palestine, Siné gave an interview on the radio during which he stated: "Yes, I am anti-Semitic and I am not scared to admit it ..I want all Jews to live in fear, unless they are pro-Palestinian. Let them die." He later apologised for his comments. In July 2008, Siné's column in the magazine ''

Charlie Hebdo ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; ) is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The publication has been described as anti-racist, sceptical, secular, libertarian, and within the tradition of left-wing radicalism ...

'' contained this comment on

Jean Sarkozy Jean Nicolas Brice Sárközy de Nagy-Bócsa (; ; born 1 September 1986) is the son of the former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy. Jean is a regional councillor in the city of Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and registered as a first-year law stude ...

's rumoured impending conversion to Judaism so he could marry a Jewish heiress of the wealthy Darty family, Jessica Sebaoun-Darty: "He'll go a long way in life, this lad!" Sarkozy and Sebaoun-Darty married but Sarkozy has affirmed that he did not convert to Judaism. The incident led to complaints of antisemitism and journalist Claude Askolovitch described the comments as

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. The magazine's editor, Philippe Val, ordered Siné to write a letter of apology or face termination. The cartoonist said he would rather "cut his own balls off", and was promptly fired. Both sides subsequently filed lawsuits, and in December 2010, Siné won a 40,000-

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

court judgment against his former publisher for

wrongful termination In law, wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been termination of employment, terminated by the employer, where the termination breaches one o ...

. Siné reported a

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...

posted on a site run by the

Jewish Defense League The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a far-right political organization in the United States and Canada. Its stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary"; it has been classified as "right-wing terrorist group" ...

. The text said "20 centimeters of stainless steel in the gut, that should teach the bastard to stop and think.""Hätsk fransk debatt om antisemitism"
''

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

'', 13 August 2008.

References

External links

Siné biography
on

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ). His son Boris Kousemaker has been the owner since 2007. From 1968 to 2015, it was located in the Ke ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sine 1928 births 2016 deaths French comic strip cartoonists French editorial cartoonists French comics artists French comics writers French satirical comics artists French satirical comics writers French satirists French humorists French political artists Artists from Paris 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists Deaths from cancer in France Burials at Montmartre Cemetery French anarchists Charlie Hebdo people