Gabriel Vargas
1983 "Premio Nacional de Periodismo" (National Journalism Prize) award ceremony
Born	Gabriel Bernal Vargas (1915-02-05)February 5, 1915 Tulancingo, Hidalgo
Died	May 25, 2010(2010-05-25) (aged 95) Mexico City
Nationality	Mexican
Area(s)	Cartoonist, painter[1][2][3][4][5]
Notable works	La Familia Burrón (comic strip) The Burrón Family
Awards	1983 "Premio Nacional de Periodismo" (National Journalism Prize) 2003 "Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes en el área de Tradiciones Populares" (National Sciences and Arts Prize)[6][7]

Gabriel Bernal Vargas (5 February 1915 – 25 May 2010)^[6][7] was a Mexican cartoonist, whose comic strip La Familia Burrón was created in 1937.^[1][2][3] This cartoon has been described as one of the most important in Mexican popular culture.^[6][7] Vargas won Mexico's "Premio Nacional de Periodismo" [es] (National Journalism Prize) in 1983 and the "Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes en el área de Tradiciones Populares" (National Sciences and Arts Prize) in 2003.^{[1][2][6][7][8][9]}

Early life and education

Gabriel Vargas was born in Tulancingo, Hidalgo, on February 5, 1915, and had 11 siblings.^[6][7] His father was a merchant and died when Gabriel was four years old.^[1][2] In 1922, his mother, Josefina Bernal, moved the family to Mexico City.^[1][2][6][7] Around 1928, Vargas began work as a draftsman for the Excélsior newspaper and eventually became its chief drawer^[1][2][6][7] by 1931 when he was sixteen.^[6][7] Vargas won an art contest sponsored by Panamericana Editorial which led to him penning his first comic, Los Superlocos, whose main protagonists became the basis for La Familia Burrón.^[1][2][6][7]

La Familia Burrón

In 1937, Vargas began drawing La Familia Burrón as a separate piece which documented parents, Regino Burrón and Borola Tacuche de Burrón, their two teenage children, Regino and Macuca Burrón, and Foforito Cantarranas, a younger kid who was adopted by the Burróns.^{[1][2][6][7][8][10][11][12][13]} La Familia Burrón profiled a lower class family's daily comedic struggles in an impoverished Mexican barrio.^{[8][10][11][12][13]} At the height of its popularity, the comic strip helped circulation sales to reach 500,000 copies a week.^[9][12][13] The comic was temporarily suspended but resumed in 1978.^[12][13]

Later life and death

In 2007, Carlos Monsiváis, who is a patron of the arts, opened the Museo del Estanquillo with an exhibition of Vargas' La Familia Burrón paintings with the artist in person.^[4][5] The Burrón Family were represented in painted forms by Regino Burrón and Borola Tacuche de Burrón, Regino and Foforito.^[4][5] Vargas sat paralyzed because of an affiction he had suffered for the past twenty years.^[4][5]

The Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes stated Vargas died on 25 May 2010 at his Mexico City home.^[6][7][8] His health had declined in recent years but no cause of death was given.^[6][7][8] According to a statement released by this council, Vargas was "one of the greatest representatives of the golden age of Mexican comics" and an "undeniable reference point for the nation’s popular culture".^[9]