Bernard Willem Holtrop (born 2 April 1941, Ermelo) is a Dutch

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 comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

living in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

since 1968, who publishes under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Willem. He is renowned for his sometimes provocative cartoons featuring violent and sexual imagery on political topics. In 1968 two of his cartoons led to court cases, where he was, among others, accused of

lèse-majesté ''Lèse-majesté'' or ''lese-majesty'' ( , ) is an offence or defamation against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or of the state itself. The English name for this crime is a mod ...

for depicting queen

Juliana of The Netherlands Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Sh ...

as a prostitute. In the end he was only sentenced for a cartoon criticizing police brutality by comparing it with

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. The events motivated Willem to move to France, where he still lives to this day. His work attacks religion, the monarchy, the far-right, the far-left, terrorism and war policies. He is the winner of the 2000

Stripschapprijs The Stripschapprijs is a Dutch prize awarded to List of comic creators, comic creators for their entire body of work. It is awarded annually by the ''Stripschap'', the Dutch Society of comics fans, since 1974. The prize is non-pecuniary, but is con ...

and of the 2013 Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême. Willem has drawn in many newspapers: ', ''

Hara-Kiri , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near t ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Charlie Mensuel ''Charlie Mensuel'' (or simply ''Charlie'', "mensuel" being a French term for a monthly periodical) was a French monthly comics magazine. Its publication began in February 1969, and ceased in February 1986. Tagged "The newspaper full of humour a ...

'', ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

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References

1941 births Living people Dutch editorial cartoonists Dutch magazine cartoonists Dutch humorists Dutch satirists Dutch caricaturists Dutch illustrators Dutch comics artists Dutch satirical comics artists Dutch satirical comics writers Dutch political artists Dutch erotic artists Dutch republicans Dutch critics of religions Cartoon controversies People from Ermelo, Netherlands Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême winners Charlie Hebdo people French male non-fiction writers Winners of the Stripschapsprijs Lèse-majesté {{cartoonist-stub