Cabu started out studying art at the École Estienne in Paris and his drawings were first published by 1954 in a local newspaper. The Algerian War forced him to be conscripted in the army for over two years, where his talent was used in the army magazine Bled and in Paris Match. His time in the army caused him to become a strident anti-militarist and adopt a slightly anarchistic view of society.[3]
In 1960, after he left the Army, he became one of the founders of Hara-Kiri magazine. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became a popular artist, collaborating for a time with the children's TV programme Récré A2. He continued working in political caricature for Charlie Hebdo and Le Canard enchaîné.
His popular characters include Le Grand Duduche and adjudant Kronenbourg, and especially Mon Beauf.[4] So spot-on was this caricature of an average, racist, sexist, vulgar, ordinary Frenchman that the word 'beauf' (short for "beau-frère", i. e., brother-in-law) has slipped into ordinary use.[5] A 1973 drawing by Cabu attacking male politicians with the question "Qui a engrossé les 343 salopes du manifeste sur l'avortement?".[6][7]("Who got the 343 sluts from the abortion manifesto pregnant?") gave the Manifesto of the 343 its familiar nickname, often mistaken as the original title.
In February 2006, a Cabu cartoon which appeared on the cover of Charlie Hebdo in response to the Danish cartoons affair caused more controversy and a lawsuit. It depicted the Muslim prophet Muhammad under the caption "Muhammad overwhelmed by fundamentalists", crying "C'est dur d'être aimé par des cons!" ("So hard to be loved by jerks!").
From September 2006 to January 2007, an exhibition entitled Cabu and Paris was organised at the Paris city hall.[8]
Death
Cabu was killed, along with seven of his colleagues, two police officers, and two others, on 7 January 2015 in the Charlie Hebdo shooting when al-Qaeda gunmen stormed the newspaper's offices in Paris.[1][2][9]
^ ab"Les dessinateurs Charb et Cabu seraient morts". L'Essentiel (in French). France. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015. Le directeur de la publication et dessinateur satirique Charb (Stéphane Charbonnier) et Cabu seraient morts selon les informations du Point (via un tweet). Charb avait été annoncé gravement blessé selon plusieurs sources, que relayaient Le Monde et Le Figaro.
