Abu Abraham
| Abu Abraham | |
|---|---|
| Born | Attupurathu Mathew Abraham 11 June 1924 Mavelikara,Travancore,British India |
| Died | 1 December 2002(aged 78) |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Abu |
Attupurathu Mathew Abraham(11 June 1924 – 1 December 2002), pen nameAbu,was an Indiancartoonist,journalist, and author. In a career spanning 40 years, Abu Abraham worked for various national and international newspapers includingThe Bombay Chronicle,Shankar's Weekly,Blitz,Tribune,The Observer(1956–1966),The Guardian(1966–1969), andThe Indian Express(1969–1981).
He was a lifelongatheistandrationalist.[1]
Early years
[edit]Born inMavelikara,Kerala[2]as the son of A.M. Mathew and Kantamma, Abu started drawing cartoons at the age of 3. After studying French, Mathematics, and English atUniversity College, Thiruvananthapuram(Trivandrum) and being the tennis champion, he graduated in 1945.[2]
Work in London
[edit]In 1953, he met Fred Joss of the LondonStar,who encouraged him to move to London.[2]At 32, Abu arrived in London in the summer of 1953 and immediately sold cartoons toPunchmagazineand theDaily Sketchand started to contribute material toEverybodys' London OpinionandEastern Worldusing the pen name 'Abraham'.[2]In 1956, after two cartoons were published inTribune,he was sent a personal letter byDavid Astor,the editor ofThe Observer,the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, offering him a permanent job as its first ever political cartoonist. Astor asked Abu to change his pen name as 'Abraham' would imply a false slant on his cartoons, and so he settled on 'Abu', a schoolboy nickname of his.[2]
He was described inThe Guardianas "the conscience of the Left and the pea under the princess's mattress".[2]He also produced reportage drawings from around the world. In 1962 inCubahe drewChe Guevaraand spent three hours in a nightclub withFidel Castro.[2]
Return to India
[edit]He returned toIndiawith his first wife (Sarojini, fromTamil Nadu,who he later divorced) and two daughters, Ayisha and Janaki, in 1969 to work as the political cartoonist on theIndian Expressuntil 1981. In 1970 he was given a special award by theBritish Film Institutefor a short film based onNoah's ArkcalledNo Arks.[2]From 1972 until 1978, he was nominated a member of theRajya Sabha,the upper house of the Indian Parliament.[2]
In 1975Indian Emergencywas declared and the freedom of the press was suspended, and Abu fell out of favour withIndira Gandhi.The direct result of this was the publication of the bookGames of the Emergencyin 1977, which contained the political articles and cartoons that he could not print during the Emergency. As well as illustrating other books, other collections of his cartoons wereAbu on Bangladesh(1972),Private View(1974), andArrivals and Departures(1983). He also edited thePenguin Book of Indian Cartoons(1988).[2]
From 1981, Abu worked as a freelancer, syndicating his work to several newspapers and commencing a new strip cartoon,Salt and Pepper.[3]The crow and the elephant in this philosophical strip begin to take over from the political cartoons, according to his daughter Ayisha Abraham. In 1988 Abu moved back to Kerala.[2]He died on 1 December 2002 and was survived by his British-born wife Psyche. His death was marked by a two-minute silence in the Rajya Sabha and he was cremated with full state honours.[2]
References
[edit]- ^"His strongest theme, as India sank faster into factional and religious politics, had remained adherence to the original vision of Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru for a wholly secular state: Abu was a rationalist and atheist." Michael McNay, 'Obituary: Abu Abraham',The Guardian,7 December 2002, Pg. 26.
- ^abcdefghijklMark Bryant,Fleet Street's Star of India,History Today,57(6) pp. 58–59 (June 2007)
- ^Qureishi, Humra (2 November 2003)."Cartoonist who provokes you to think".The Sunday Tribune.
External links
[edit]
- Abu Abraham bibliography at WorldCat
- No Arks, animation film written by Abu Abraham
- Abu Abraham's cartoons at the British Cartoon Archive[permanent dead link]
- Frontline Archives
- Report from Spectrum, The Tribunedated 2 November 2003.
- Rediff.com article
- Homage from Indian Institute of CartoonistsArchived26 September 2017 at theWayback Machine
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