Portrait of Josef Rotter by Oskar Schmerling

Josef Rotter (fl. 1902–14) was a teacher, illustrator, and

editorial 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 ...

of German or Austrian origin, most noted for his contribution to the '' Molla Nasreddin'' magazine.

Early life and education

Rotter's date and place of birth are not known. The best, yet far from precise, indication regarding his birthdate is a 1902 group photo at one of Rotter's workplaces, showing a man in his thirties to fifties with an obvious resemblance to a caricature portrait of Rotter in the ''

Jalil Mammadguluzadeh Jalil Huseyngulu oghlu Mammadguluzadeh (, ; 22 February 1869 – 4 January 1932), was an Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani List of satirists and satires, satirist and writer. He was the founder of Molla Nasraddin (magazine), ''Molla Nasraddin'', a ...

Encyclopedia''. Rotter has been variously described as German, German-born, ethnic German, and Austrian, without

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

necessarily referring to the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, and with the term

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

applied to Rotter in a meticulous, largely ethnographic work by . Rotter is said to have studied at the

Munich Academy of Fine Arts The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

, but his name does not appear in the institution's 1809–1935 student matriculation books.

1902–14 Career

In 1902 Rotter accepted an invitation to teach at the newly founded

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Secondary School of Painting and Sculpture, the immediate precursor of the Georgian Academy of Fine Arts. The invitation was issued by Oskar Schmerling, a second generation Caucasian German artist and director of the school, with whom Rotter would remain in close contact for years—the two men not only teaching at the same institution, but also traveling together, and contributing to many of the same magazines. From 1906 to 1914 Rotter engaged in a remarkably intense and multicultural activity, creating over twenty three hundred illustrations for nine periodicals, all based in Tbilisi but aiming at four linguistic groups over and beyond South Caucasia: the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

' and '' Khatabala'', the

Azeri Azeri or Azeri Turk may refer to: * Azeri people, an ethnic group also known as Azerbaijanis * Citizens of Azerbaijan * Azeri language, the modern-day Turkic language * Old Azeri, an extinct Iranian language * Azeri Turk (journal), Academic jour ...

'' Molla Nasreddin'', the Georgian ', ', ', ', ', and the

'' Kaukasische Post''. Seven of these publications were launched in the wake of the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, th ...

, all took advantage of the subsequent relaxation of censorship, and five were satirical magazines with pioneering content. Over eleven hundred of Rotter’s illustrations were published in ''Molla Nasreddin''. Each issue of this weekly magazine, whose publication experienced multiple interruptions, had a close to eight-page editorial content, including four pages devoted to social or political cartoons. About a third of these fully illustrated pages in 1906–7, half in 1908–9, three-quarters in 1910–13, nine-tenths in 1914, and three-fifths over the entire 1906–14 period, were filled with Rotter’s work. So Rotter’s role is seen as important in quantitative terms. Cartoons were meant to widen the audience of ''Molla Nasreddin'', include the less educated, and cross linguistic barriers; and indeed, the magazine enjoyed a large circulation, with numerous schools and coffeehouses among its subscribers, and a geographic reach suggesting a far from exclusively

readership. So again Rotter’s role is seen as important, but this time from a qualitative point of view and in tandem with Schmerling, the publication’s other prominent illustrator. Finally, considering Rotter's impact in synergy with all of ''Molla Nasreddin'''s collaborators, one should recall the magazine's standing as a main proponent of progressive ideas in the

Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

, a model or reference point for the Armenian, Azeri, Georgian,

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

, and

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

press, and a significant force in the

Persian Constitutional Revolution The Persian Constitutional Revolution (, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911 during the Qajar Iran, Qajar era. The revolution led to the establishment of a Majl ...

. In the same period, Rotter created illustrations for 's Azeri translation of Ferdowsi's ''

Rostam and Sohrab The tragedy of "Rostam and Sohrab" forms part of the 10th-century Persian epic ''Shahnameh'' by the Persian poet Ferdowsi. It tells the tragic story of the heroes Rostam and his son, Sohrab.Ebrahimi, Mokhtar & Taheri, Abdollah. (2017). The Trage ...

''.

Later life and death

Rotter’s collaboration with

based periodicals came to a sudden end in the summer of 1914, shortly before the onset of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Less than conclusive indications that Rotter survived the war are the first publications of some of his work in the 1920s and 1930s, in two narratives of Dietrich von Berne’s exploits, a selection of Friedrich von Schiller's poems, and an album dealing with

legends and folk tales.Ricek (1923; 1924), Schiller (1923), and Rotter (1939), including 7, 7, at least 7, and 12 of Rotter's illustrations respectively. The date and place of Rotter’s death are not known.

Gallery

File:Rotter khatabala 1911 10 8 n41 p489.jpg, ''Khatabala'', Oct. 8, 1911, no. 41, p. 489 File:Rotter khatabala 1911 12 3 n49 p588.jpg, ''Khatabala'', Dec. 3, 1911, no. 49, p. 588 File:Rotter khatabala 1912 6 2 n21 p249.jpg, ''Khatabala'', June 2, 1912, no. 21, p. 249 File:Rotter mn 1910 1 10 n2 pp4-5.jpg, ''Molla Nasreddin'', Jan. 10, 1910, no. 2, pp. 4–5 File:Revised molla nasreddin 1910 11 13 n36 p8.jpg, ''Molla Nasreddin'', Nov. 13, 1910, no. 36, p. 8 File:Molla nasreddin 1911 5 15 n18 p5.jpg, ''Molla Nasreddin'', May 15, 1911, no. 18, p. 5

Notes

References

* Anar et al. 2008.
Jalil Mammadguluzadeh Encyclopedia
' n Azeri Baku: Shargh-Gharb. * Abashidze, Irakli, ed. 1975–87.
Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia
' n Georgian 12 Vols. Tbilisi: Georgian Academy of Sciences. * ABKM (Akademie der Bildenden Künste München). 2015. �
Digitale Edition der Matrikelbücher 1809–1935
” ''Matrikelbücher.'' * Caffee, Naomi, et al. 2019.
Beyond Caricature: The Oskar Schmerling Digital Archive
'. Accessed July 11, 2024. * Bennigsen, Alexandre. 1962. �
Mollah Nasreddin et la presse satirique musulmane de Russie avant 1917
” ''Cahiers du monde russe et soviétique'' 3 (3): 505–20. * Daly, Jonathan D. 2009. �
Government, Press, and Subversion in Russia, 1906–1917
” ''The Journal of The Historical Society'' 9 (1): 23–65. * Eliozova, Irina. 2018. �
The Caucasus Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts
” ''Propaganda''. * Ferdowsi, Abolghasem. 1908. '' Rostam o Sohrab'' n Azeri Tiflis: Abbas Ghayebzadeh. * Fischer, Karl August. 1944.
Die „Kaukasische Post“
'' Leipzig: S. Hirzel Verlag. * GAHPC (Georgian Association for the History of Photography in the Caucasus). n.d. �

” ''The Georgian Museum of Photography''. Accessed July 25, 2025. * Grant, Bruce. 2020. �
Satire and Political Imagination in the Caucasus: The Sense and Sensibilities of Molla Nasreddin
” ''Acta Slavica Iaponica'' 40: 1–18. * Guliyev, Jamil, and Rasul Rza, eds. 1976–87.
Azerbaijani Soviet Encyclopedia
' n Azeri 10 vols. Baku: Azerbaijani Academy of Sciences. * Habbibayli, Isa, and Teymour Karimli, eds. 2017–18. ''Molla Nasreddin'' n Azeri 5 vols. Baku: Sharq-Gharb. * Javadi, Hassan. 2009. �
Molla Nasreddin ii: Political and Social Weekly
” ''Encyclopaedia Iranica''. * Jooss, Birgitt. 2010. ''Die Digitale Edition der Matrikelbücher der Akademie der Bildenden Künste München''. Norderstedt: Books on Demand. * Ricek, Leopold Georg. 1923. ''Dietrich von Berne und seine Heergesellen''. Vienna: Verlag von A. Pichlers Witwe und Sohne. * Ricek, Leopold Georg. 1924. ''Dietrich von Berne und die Rabenschlacht''. Vienna: Verlag von A. Pichlers Witwe und Sohne. * Rigberg, Benjamin. 1966. �
The Efficacy of Tsarist Censorship Operations, 1894–1917
” ''Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas'' 14 (3): 327–46. * Rotter, Josef. 1939.

'

n Russian N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

Yerevan: Gosizdat Armyanskaya SSR. * Schiller, Friedrich. 1923. ''Ausgewählte Gedichte''. Vienna: Deutscher Verlag für Jugend und Volk. * SovLab (Soviet Past Research Laboratory). n.d. �
Rotter Joseph
” ''Georgian-German Archive''. Accessed July 25, 2023. * Slavs and Tatars, ed. 2011.
Molla Nasreddin: The Magazine that Would've, Could've, Should've
'. Zurich: JRP Ringier. * Svanidze, Tamara. 2018. �
Le journal satirique ''Le Martinet du Diable'', observateur caustique de la première Republique de Géorgie
” ''Hypotheses''. * TSAA (Tbilisi State Academy of Arts). 2017. �
History of the Academy
” ''Tbilisi State Academy of Arts''.

External links

* Rotter Project's
Josef Rotter
' website, including an expanded biography, links to relevant digital collections, and over ninety illustrations.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotter, Josef 20th-century Austrian educators Austrian editorial cartoonists Austrian caricaturists German caricaturists 20th-century German educators German editorial cartoonists German magazine illustrators Austrian magazine illustrators Nationality controversies Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 20th-century Austrian illustrators 20th-century German illustrators