Oğuz Aral (1936 – 26 July 2004) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

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

and comics artist, known for his

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 e ...

style. He was also active as a

theatre designer Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...

, playwright,

ceramist Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whil ...

and animator, establishing the first Turkish animation studio.

Biography

Born in

Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a city and a district in Istanbul Province along the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, outside the urban core of Istanbul, containing many holiday and weekend homes for residents of the city. The ...

Istanbul Province ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

, 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 by the brothers Oğuz Aral (1936-2004) and Tekin Aral (1941-1999). After having sta ...

'' (''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 large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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 one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'' until his death in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient t ...

. Oğuz Aral was interred at the

Zincirlikuyu Cemetery __NOTOC__ The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery ( tr, Zincirlikuyu Mezarlığı) is a modern burial ground residing on the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of polit ...

in Istanbul. He is survived by a son.

References

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

1936 births 2004 deaths People from Silivri Turkish cartoonists 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