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France’s ‘Little Nicolas’ illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempe dies aged 89
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Beloved author: French cartoonist and illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempe, also known as Sempe, poses during a photo session in Rueil-Malmaison on Nov. 6, 2019. Sempe, who illustrated the much-loved Little Nicolas series of French children's books, has died aged 89, his biographer and friend told the AFP in a statement on Thursday. (AFP/Martin Bureau)
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ean-Jacques Sempe, who illustrated the beloved Little Nicolas series of French children's books, has died aged 89, his wife Martine Gossieaux Sempe told AFP on Thursday.
As well as his work on Le Petit Nicolas, an idealized vision of childhood in 1950s France that became an international best-seller, Sempe also illustrated more New Yorker magazine covers than any other artist.
"The cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempe died peacefully [on Thursday] evening [...] at his holiday residence, surrounded by his wife and his close friends," Marc Lecarpentier, his biographer and friend, told AFP.
Sempe, who originally wanted to be a jazz pianist and had a difficult childhood, dropped out of school aged 14 before lying about his age to join the army.
Army life didn't agree with him, however, and he began selling drawings to Parisian newspapers.
While working at a press agency, he befriended cartooning legend Rene Goscinny of Asterix fame and together in 1959 they invented Little Nicolas.
"The Nicolas stories were a way to revisit the misery I endured while growing up while making sure everything came out just fine," Sempe said in 2018.
