Jean-Jacques Sempé, the beloved French cartoonist, simply known by all as Sempé, passed away at 89 years old on August 11, 2022. Sempé is well known for his poster-like illustrations, usually pencil-drawn in great detail from a distant perspective or high viewpoint, depicting everyday life as well as detailed scenes of the countryside or cities.
Born in Passaic, near Bordeaux, on August 17, 1932, to a single mother with an alcoholic, violent stepfather. He dropped out of school at an early age and enlisted underage in the French army in 1950 because he said it was “the only place that would give me a job and a bed.” When he got caught doodling while keeping watch during guard duty, he was fired.
He then moved to Paris and sold his drawings to various newspapers, and began working for Paris Match for many years, creating full-page cartoons. He began working with René Goscinny, the cartooning legend of Asterix fame, and created the character of Nicholas in 1959.
He is known for the series of children’s books he created with René Goscinny, Le Petit Nicolas, which became international bestsellers with over 15 million copies sold in 45 countries, a film adaptation, and a cartoon. “The Nicolas stories were a way to revisit the misery I endured while growing up, while making sure everything came out just fine,” Sempé said in 2018.
In America, he is well known and celebrated for the hundreds of covers he created for The New Yorker magazine for decades. It was in 1978 when he was hired by the New Yorker that he found sustainable success. “I was almost 50, and for the first time in my life, I existed! I had finally found my family,” he said.
111th cover for the magazine
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