Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and

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

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 comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of

St Trinian's School ''St Trinian's'' is a British gag cartoon comic strip series, created and drawn by Ronald Searle from 1946 until 1952. The cartoons all centre on a boarding school for girls, where the teachers are sadists and the girls are juvenile delinquen ...

and for his collaboration with

Geoffrey Willans Herbert Geoffrey Willans, RNVR, (4 February 1911 – 6 August 1958), an English writer and journalist, is best known as the creator of Nigel Molesworth, the "goriller of 3B" and "curse of St. Custard's", as in the four books with illustrations ...

on the Molesworth series.

Biography

Searle was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, England, where his father was a Post Office worker who repaired telephone lines. He started drawing at the age of five and left school (Central School – now Parkside School) at the age of 15. He trained at Cambridge College of Arts and Technology (now Anglia Ruskin University) for two years. In April 1939, realizing that war was inevitable, he abandoned his art studies to enlist in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

. In January 1942, he was in the 287th Field Company, RE in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. After a month of fighting in Malaya, he was taken prisoner along with his cousin Tom Fordham Searle, when Singapore fell to the Japanese. He spent the rest of the war as prisoner, first in Changi Prison and then in the Kwai jungle, working on the Siam-Burma Death Railway. Searle contracted both

beriberi Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The two main types in adults are wet beriberi and dry beriberi. Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system, r ...

and

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...

during his incarceration, which included numerous beatings, and his weight dropped to less than 40 kilograms. He was liberated in late 1945 with the final defeat of the Japanese. After the war, he served as a courtroom artist at the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

and later the

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
'' He married the journalist

Kaye Webb Kathleen ("Kaye") Webb (26 January 1914 – 16 January 1996), was a British editor and publisher. She was a recipient of the Eleanor Farjeon Award. Early life and education Kathleen Webb was born in Chiswick, London, in 1914, the second of ...

in 1947; they had twins, Kate and Johnny. In 1961, Searle moved to Paris, leaving his family; the marriage ended in divorce in 1967. Later he married Monica Koenig, a painter, theatre and jewellery designer. After 1975, Searle and his wife lived and worked in the mountains of Haute Provence. Searle's wife Monica died in July 2011 and he himself died on 30 December 2011, aged 91.

Early work as war artist

Although Searle published the first St Trinian's cartoon in the magazine '' Lilliput'' in 1941, his professional career really begins with his documentation of the brutal camp conditions of his period as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in a series of drawings that he hid under the mattresses of prisoners dying of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

. Searle recalled, "I desperately wanted to put down what was happening, because I thought if by any chance there was a record, even if I died, someone might find it and know what went on." But Searle survived, along with approximately 300 of his drawings. Liberated late in 1945, Searle returned to England, where he published several of the drawings in fellow prisoner Russell Braddon's ''The Naked Island''. Another of Searle's fellow prisoners later recounted, "If you can imagine something that weighs six stone or so, is on the point of death and has no qualities of the human condition that aren't revolting, calmly lying there with a pencil and a scrap of paper, drawing, you have some idea of the difference of temperament that this man had from the ordinary human being." Most of these drawings appear in his 1986 book, ''Ronald Searle: To the Kwai and Back, War Drawings 1939–1945''. In the book, Searle also wrote of his experiences as a prisoner, including the day he woke up to find a dead friend on either side of him, and a live snake underneath his head: At least one of his drawings is on display at the Changi Museum and Chapel, Singapore, but the majority of his originals are in the permanent collection of the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

, London, along with the works of other POW artists. The best known of these are John Mennie, Jack Bridger Chalker, Philip Meninsky and Ashley George Old.

Magazines, books, and films

Searle produced an extraordinary volume of work during the 1950s, including drawings for ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

'', ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or t ...

'' and ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

''. His cartoons appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', the '' Sunday Express'' and the ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 b ...

''. He compiled more St Trinian's books, which were based on his sister's school and other girls' schools in Cambridge. He collaborated with

on the Molesworth books (''Down With Skool!'', 1953, and ''How to be Topp'', 1954), and with Alex Atkinson on travel books. In addition to advertisements and posters, Searle drew the title backgrounds of the

Sidney Gilliat Sidney Gilliat (15 February 1908 – 31 May 1994) was an English film director, producer and writer. He was the son of George Gilliat, editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1928 to 1933. Sidney was born in the district of Edgeley in Sto ...

and

Frank Launder Frank Launder (28 January 1906 – 23 February 1997) was a British writer, film director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat. Early life and career He was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire ...

film '' The Happiest Days of Your Life''. After moving to Paris in 1961, he worked more on reportage for ''Life'' and ''Holiday'' and less on cartoons. He also continued to work in a broad range of media and created books (including his well-known cat books), animated films and sculpture for commemorative medals, both for the French Mint and the

British Art Medal Society The British Art Medal Society (BAMS) was founded in 1982 to promote the art of the medal through commissions, exhibitions, publications and events. The society is affiliated to FIDEM (the Fédération Internationale de la Médaille d’Art). Mar ...

. Searle did a considerable amount of designing for the cinema, and in 1965, he completed the opening, intermission and closing credits for the comedy film '' Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines'' as well as the 1969 film '' Monte Carlo or Bust!'' In 1975, the full-length cartoon '' Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done'' was released. It is based on the character and songs from ''

H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which ...

''.

Medallist

Searle designed the 1992 delegates medal for the FIDEM XXIII Congress London. It depicted a half-length bust of the renaissance medallist Pisanello and was struck by the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury and is un ...

. Other notable medals were "Searle at Seventy" (1990) and "Kwai 50th Anniversary" (1991) Medal both struck by Thomas Fattorini Ltd, and "Charles Dickens" (1983) struck by the Birmingham Mint.

Awards

Searle received much recognition for his work, especially in America, including the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

's Advertising and Illustration Award in 1959 and 1965, the

Reuben Award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

in 1960, their Illustration Award in 1980 and their Advertising Award in 1986 and 1987. Searle was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 2004. In 2007, he was decorated with one of France's highest awards, the

Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, and in 2009, he received the German Lower Saxony Order of Merit.

Influence

His work has had a great deal of influence, particularly on American cartoonists, including Pat Oliphant, Matt Groening, Hilary Knight, and the animators of Disney's '' 101 Dalmatians''. He was an early influence on

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's drawing style which featured in the books '' In His Own Write'' and '' A Spaniard in the Works''. Anglia Ruskin University has named the Ronald Searle Award for Creativity in the Arts in his honour. Searle was an admiring friend of, and admired by, the great satirical humorist S. J. Perelman. Searle was also a very important influence on the young Gerald Scarfe.

Bibliography

St Trinian's

* ''Hurrah For St Trinians'', 1948 * ''The Female Approach: The Belles of St. Trinian's and Other Cartoons'', 1950 * ''Back To The Slaughterhouse, and Other Ugly Moments'', 1951 * ''The Terror of St Trinian's, or Angela's Prince Charming'', 1952 (with Timothy Shy ( D. B. Wyndham-Lewis)) * ''Souls in Torment'', 1953 (preface by

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

) * ''The St Trinian's Story'', 1959 (with Kaye Webb) * ''St Trinian's: The Cartoons'', 2007 * ''St. Trinian's: The Entire Appalling Business'', 2008

Molesworth

* ''Down With Skool!: A Guide to School Life for Tiny Pupils and Their Parents'', 1953 (with

) * ''How to be Topp: A Guide to Sukcess for Tiny Pupils, Including All There is to Kno About Space'', 1954 (with Geoffrey Willans) * ''Whizz for Atomms: A Guide to Survival in the 20th Century for Fellow Pupils, their Doting Maters, Pompous Paters and Any Others who are Interested'', 1956 (with Geoffrey Willans) Published in the U.S. as ''Molesworth's Guide to the Atommic Age'' * ''Back in the Jug Agane'', 1959 (with Geoffrey Willans) * ''The Compleet Molesworth'', 1958 (collection) ''Molesworth'' (1999 Penguin reprint)

Other works

*''Forty Drawings'' (1946) *''White Coolie'', 1947 (with Ronald Hastain) *''This England 1946–1949'', 1949 (edited by Audrey Hilton) *''The Stolen Journey'', 1950 (with Oliver Philpot) *''An Irishman's Diary'', 1950 (with Patrick Campbell) *''Dear Life'', 1950 (with

H. E. Bates Herbert Ernest Bates (16 May 1905 – 29 January 1974), better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer. His best-known works include ''Love for Lydia'', '' The Darling Buds of May'', and ''My Uncle Silas''. Early life H.E. Bates was ...

) *''Paris Sketchbook'', 1950 (with

) (repr. 1958) *''A Sleep of Prisoners'', 1951 (with

Christopher Fry Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially '' The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Biograp ...

) *''Life in Thin Slices'', 1951 (with Patrick Campbell) *''The Naked Island'', 1952 (with Russell Braddon) *''It Must be True'', 1952 (with Denys Parsons) *''London—So Help Me!'', 1952 (with Winifred Ellis) *''

The Diverting History of John Gilpin ''The Diverting History of John Gilpin Shewing how he went Farther than he intended, and came safe Home again'' is a comic ballad by William Cowper written in 1782. The ballad concerns a draper called John Gilpin who rides a runaway horse. Co ...

'', 1953 (text by

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and sce ...

) *''Looking at London and People Worth Meeting'', 1953 (with Kaye Webb) *''Six Animal Plays'', 1952 (text by Frank Carpenter) *''The Dark is Light Enough'', 1954 (with Christopher Fry) *''Patrick Campbells Omnibus'', 1954 (with Patrick Campbell) *''The Journal of Edwin Carp'', 1954 (edited by Richard Haydn) *''Modern Types'', 1955 (with

Geoffrey Gorer Geoffrey Edgar Solomon Gorer (26 March 1905 – 24 May 1985) was an English anthropologist and writer, noted for his application of psychoanalytic techniques to anthropology. Born into a non-practicing Jewish family, he was educated at Charterhou ...

) *''The Rake's Progress'', 1955 *''Merry England, Etc'', 1956 *''Anglo-Saxon Attitudes'', 1956 (with

Angus Wilson Sir Angus Frank Johnstone-Wilson, CBE (11 August 191331 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was one of England's first openly gay authors. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for '' The Middle Age o ...

) *''The Big City or the New Mayhew '', 1958 (with Alex Atkinson) *''The Dog's Ear Book'', 1958 (with Geoffrey Willans) *''USA for Beginners'', 1959 (with Alex Atkinson) *''Anger of Achilles: Homer's Iliad'', 1959 (translation by

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celt ...

) *''By Rocking Horse Across Russia'', 1960 (with Alex Atkinson) *''Penguin Ronald Searle'', 1960 *''Refugees 1960: A Report in Words and Pictures'', 1960 (with Kaye Webb) *''The Biting Eye of Andre Francois'' (1960) *''Which Way Did He Go?'', 1961 *''A Christmas Carol'', 1961 (with

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

) *''The 13 Clocks and the Wonderful O'', 1962 (with

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected ...

) *''Searle in the Sixties'', 1964 *''From Frozen North to Filthy Lucre'', 1964 *''Haven't We Met Before Somewhere?'', 1966 *''Searle's Cats'', 1967 *''The Square Egg'', 1968 *''Take One Toad'', 1968 *''This Business of Bomfog'', 1969 (with Madelaine Duke) *''Monte Carlo Or Bust'', 1969 (with E. W. Hildick) *''Hello, where did all the people go?'', 1969 *''The Second Coming of Toulouse-Lautrec'', 1969 *''Secret Sketchbook'', 1969 *''The Great Fur Opera: Annals of the Hudson's Bay Company 1670–1970'', 1970 (with Kildare Dobbs)The Great Fur Opera
illustrated for the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

*''Scrooge'', 1970 (with Elaine Donaldson) *''Mr. Lock of St. James's Street'', 1971 (with Frank Whitbourn) *''The Addict'', 1971 *''More Cats'', 1975 *''Dick Dead Eye'', 1975 (after

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

) *''Paris! Paris!'', 1977 (with

Irwin Shaw Irwin Shaw (February 27, 1913 – May 16, 1984) was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for two of his novels: '' The Young Lions'' ...

) *''Zodiac'', 1977 *''Ronald Searle'', 1978 *''The King of Beasts & Other Creatures'', 1980 *''The Situation is Hopeless'', 1980 *''Winning the Restaurant Game'', 1980 (with Jay Jacobs) *''Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer With Not Enough Drawings by Ronald Searle'', 1981 *''Ronald Searle's Big Fat Cat Book'', 1982 *''The Illustrated Winespeak'', 1983 *''Ronald Searle in Perspective'', 1983 *''Ronald Searle's Golden Oldies 1941–1961'', 1985 *''Something in the Cellar'', 1986 *''To the Kwai and Back: War Drawings 1939–1945'' (1986) *''Ronald Searle's Non-Sexist Dictionary'', 1988 *''Ah Yes, I Remember It Well...: Paris 1961–1975'', 1988 *''Slightly Foxed But Still Desirable: Ronald Searle's Wicked World of Book Collecting'', 1989 *''Marquis De Sade Meets Goody Two-Shoes'', 1994 *''The Tales of Grandpa Cat'', 1994 (with Lee Wardlaw) *''The Hatless Man'', 1995 (with Sarah Kortum) *''A French Affair : The Paris Beat, 1965–1998'', 1999 (with Mary Blume) *''Wicked Etiquette'', 2000 (with Sarah Kortum) *''Ronald Searle in Le Monde'', 2001 *''Railway of Hell: A Japanese POW's Account of War, Capture and Forced Labour'', 2002 (with Reginald Burton) *''Searle's Cats'', 2005 (New and Expanded Edition, all illustrations are new) *''The Scrapbook Drawings", 2005'' *''Cat O' Nine Tales: And Other Stories'', 2006 (with Jeffrey Archer) *''Beastly Feasts: A Mischievous Menagerie in Rhyme'', 2007 (with Robert Forbes) *''More Scraps & Watteau Revisited'', 2008 *''Let's Have a Bite!: A Banquet of Beastly Rhymes'', 2010 (with Robert Forbes) *''What! Already?: Searle at 90'', 2010 *''Les Très Riches Heures de Mrs Mole'', 2011 *''What Am I Still Doing Here?'', 2011 (with Roger Lewis)

References

External links

Biography and samples
*

in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

''
Comiclopedia: Ronald Searle
*
Cover of the 1947 Christmas edition
of the

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...

, by Searle {{DEFAULTSORT:Searle, Ronald 1920 births 2011 deaths Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University Artists from Cambridge British Army personnel of World War II British World War II prisoners of war Burma Railway prisoners Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Courtroom sketch artists English caricaturists English cartoonists English comics artists English expatriates in France English illustrators English emigrants to France Punch (magazine) cartoonists Reuben Award winners Royal Engineers soldiers The New Yorker cartoonists World War II prisoners of war held by Japan