32 minutes ago
Image Released, Reuters
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Argentine cartoonist, Joaquín Salvador Lavado, the creator of the Mafalda character, died at the age of 88 in his hometown of Mendoza.
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Mafalda, the cartoon character about the adventures of a six-year-old girl with the same name, is very popular in the Spanish-speaking world.
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Lavado wrote and illustrated the comic between 1964 and 1973, but it is still printed to this day.
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The Mafalda is so popular that it even has statues in Argentina and Spain.
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The cartoon, which first appeared in the Argentinian weekly Primera Plana in 1964, depicts the daily life of Mafalda, the fruit of a typical middle-class Argentine marriage, who is often baffled by her piercing questions.
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Mafalda wants world peace.
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Image Released, Reuters
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Quino poses in front of a Mafalda comic calling for world peace
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Mafalda’s intelligence and insightful observations of the adult world ensured the popularity of the comic, which has been translated into 26 languages.
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Quino drew comic stories for nine years until 1973, when he decided to stop. When asked about his decision, decades later, the graphic artist said he wanted to avoid repetition.
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Image Released, Getty Images
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The comic story was originally published in a weekly magazine but has since appeared in book form
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“The same goes for many artists, for example, I am tired of Botero’s fat characters,” he said, referring to the Colombian painter, whose paintings show obese animals and figures.
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He also said that the changing political landscape in Latin America influenced his decision to stop painting Mafalda.
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“After the coup in Chile, the situation in Latin America became very bloody,” he said of the overthrow of Salvador Allende in 1973 by General August Pinochet in the neighboring country.
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Referring to the attacks on artists and intellectuals who opposed right-wing military regimes in Latin America, he said, “If I keep drawing them [مافالدا]They would shoot me one or four times. “
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Image Released, Alamy
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There is also a Mafalda statue in Oviedo, Spain
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Quino left Argentina for Italy in March 1976, days after the junta seized power in his country of origin. Thousands of political opponents were arrested and killed under the military rule.
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After democracy returned to Argentina in 1983, Quino divided his time between Buenos Aires, Madrid and Milan.
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He continued to work as a cartoonist until he retired in 2006.
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