Victor Weisz (25 April 1913 in Berlin, Germany – 23 February 1966 in London, England) was a German-British political cartoonist, drawing under the name of Vicky.

Biography

INF3-54 Admiral of the Fleet Lord Chatfield Artist Vicky

Weisz was born in Berlin, Germany, to Hungarian-Jewish parents. He studied at the Berlin School of Art and by 1928, at the age of fifteen, he was working as a freelancer, drawing caricatures. His father took his own life that same year and Weisz began work with the journal ''12 Uhr Blatt''. His work also appeared in other German newspapers. Weisz's cartoons took a very strong anti-

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

stance. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they took over the journal where Weisz worked. As a member of the Jewish community with expressed

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

opinions, Weisz decided to leave Germany. In 1935, he went to live in the United Kingdom, and worked for 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 ...

'', ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' and ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

''. He maintained an independent stance, whatever the political hue of his employers ( Liberal, Labour and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

respectively), and built a reputation as an incisive commentator on political events. At the ''Daily Mirror'', Weisz published the ''Nazi Nugget'' series. By the 1940s, Weisz, using the pseudonym "Vicky", was one of the leading British left-wing cartoonists. Weisz worked alongside fellow left-wing cartoonist

Philip Zec Philip Zec (25 December 1909 – 14 July 1983) was a British political cartoonist and editor. Moving from the advertising industry to drawing political cartoons due to his abhorrence of the rise of fascism, Donald Zec (journalist)"Zec, Philip (1 ...

at the ''Mirror'' and replaced him as the paper's chief political cartoonist in 1954. In the 1950s boom years, many observers felt that the Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...

's demeanour as an Edwardian aristocrat was out of step with the times. "Vicky", as the lead political cartoonist of the ''News Chronicle'', ridiculed him as ' Supermac', a spoof on the American comic-strip hero

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

. Contrary to the cartoonist's intention, the title Supermac benefited Macmillan, who went on to increase his parliamentary majority at the 1959 General Election. Earlier in the 1950s, Vicky had produced some memorable cartoons of Macmillan's predecessor, Sir Anthony Eden, which made effective use of the

Homburg hat A homburg is a semi-formal hat of fur felt, characterized by a single dent running down the centre of the crown (called a "gutter crown"), a wide silk grosgrain hatband ribbon, a flat brim shaped in a "pencil curl", and a ribbon-bound trim abo ...

that had been Eden's "trademark" in the 1930s. Victor Weisz followed his father in suffering from depression and

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

; he killed himself at his London home on 23 February 1966 aged 52, dying at 22 Upper Wimpole Street,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

. He left a widow, Inglelore Weisz, and an estate valued at £22,322."WEISZ Victor of 22 Upper Wimpole Street London W.1" in ''Wills and Administrations 1966 (England and Wales)'' (1967), p. 257

References

External links

British Cartoon Archive
at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

has a database of over 4,000 cartoons by Vicky and
biographical article

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisz, Victor 1913 births 1966 deaths British editorial cartoonists German editorial cartoonists British caricaturists German caricaturists German people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Artists from Berlin Artists who died by suicide Suicides in Westminster 1966 suicides British Jews

Biography

References

Further reading

External links