Sir David Low | |
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| Born | (1891-04-07)7 April 1891 Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Died | 19 September 1963(1963-09-19) (aged 72) London, England |
| Occupations | Political cartoonist and caricaturist |
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Sir David Alexander Cecil Low (7 April 1891 – 19 September 1963) was a New Zealandpolitical cartoonist andcaricaturist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom for many years. Low was a self-taught cartoonist. Born in New Zealand, he worked in his native country before migrating to Sydney in 1911, and ultimately to London (1919), where he made his career and earned fame for hisColonel Blimp depictions and hissatirising of the personalities and policies of German dictatorAdolf Hitler, Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini, Soviet leaderJoseph Stalin, and other leaders of his times.
Low was born and educated in New Zealand. His first work was published when he was only 11 years old. His professional career began atThe Canterbury Times in 1910. The following year he moved to Australia and worked forThe Bulletin. His work attracted the attention of Henry Cadbury, the part owner ofThe Star, and Low moved to London in 1919, working for that paper until 1927, when he moved to theEvening Standard. There he produced his most famous work, chronicling the rise of fascism in the 1930s, the policy ofappeasement, and the conflict ofWorld War II. His provocative depictions of Hitler and Mussolini led to his work being banned in Italy and Germany, and him being named inThe Black Book.
The son of chemist David Brown Low and Jane Caroline Flanagan, David Low was born inDunedin, New Zealand, on 7 April 1891, and attended primary school there. His family later moved toChristchurch, where Low briefly attendedChristchurch Boys' High School. However, following the death of his eldest brother, Low was taken out of school, as his parents believed that he had been weakened by over studying. Low's first cartoon was published in 1902, when he was 11 years old, a three-picture strip in the British comicBig Budget.[1]
Low began his career in 1910 as a cartoonist with theCanterbury Times, a newspaper in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 1911, he moved to Sydney, Australia, to joinThe Bulletin. A large-format collection of some 350 pieces for those papers was published in the albumCaricatures by Low 1915.[2]During his employment atThe Bulletin, Low became well known for a 1916 cartoon satirisingBilly Hughes, then thePrime Minister of Australia, entitledThe Imperial Conference. After that success, Low published many cartoons depicting Hughes' forceful and eccentric personality. Hughes was not impressed and apparently called Low a "bastard" to his face.[3] A collection of Low's cartoons of Hughes entitledThe Billy Book, which he published in 1918, brought Low to the notice of Henry Cadbury, part-owner ofThe Star. In 1919, Cadbury offered Low a job with theStar, which Low promptly accepted.
From 1919 to 1927, Low worked at the LondonStar, which sympathised with his moderately left-wing views. In 1927, he accepted an invitation fromMax Aitken to join the conservativeEvening Standard on the strict understanding that there would be no editorial interference with his output. In 1928, Low showed his support for newly enfranchised women with his character "Joan Bull". The character appeared for a few years but fell out of regular use as the public concerns about women getting the vote disappeared.[4] Low produced numerous cartoons about theAustrian Civil War, theItalian invasion of Ethiopia, the1936 Summer Olympics, theSpanish Civil War, and other events of theinterwar period. He also worked with Horace Thorogood to produce illustrated whimsical articles on the London scene, under the byline "Low & Terry".
John Gunther called Low "the greatest caricaturist in the world".[5] In 1937,Nazi Propaganda MinisterJoseph Goebbels told BritishForeign SecretaryLord Halifax that Britishpolitical cartoons, particularly those of Low's, were damagingAnglo-German relations. In 1937, Low had produced an occasional strip about "Hit and Muss" (Hitler and Mussolini), but after Germany made official complaints he substituted a composite dictator, "Muzzler".[6] After the war, Low is said to have found his name inThe Black Book, the list of those the Nazis planned to arrest in the aftermath of aninvasion of Great Britain.[7]
His works are featured in many British history textbooks. On 1 September, the Germansinvaded Poland from the west and, on 17 September, the Sovietsinvaded from the east. Low depicted these events in one of his most famous cartoons,Rendezvous, first published in theEvening Standard on 20 September 1939.[8] It satirises the cynicism at the heart of theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact, showing Hitler and Soviet dictatorJoseph Stalin bowing politely across thedead body of Poland and greeting each other respectively as "The scum of the earth, I believe?" and "The bloody assassin of the workers, I presume?" The phrasing is based on that supposedly used byHenry Morton Stanley at his meeting withDavid Livingstone in 1871, and the dictators are shown raising their hats to one another in greeting similarly to the two explorers in artistic reconstructions of that earlier meeting. The work has been parodied by several other cartoonists.[9]
The Harmony Boys of 2 May 1940[10] depicts Hitler, Stalin, Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini, and Spanish dictatorFrancisco Franco "harmonizing" and getting along quite well. When this cartoon was published, theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union was still more than a year in the future.
His satirical works met much criticism in the British public eye. The British press called him a "war monger", and many citizens felt disdain for his depictions of appeasement.[citation needed]
Low remained in the United Kingdom for the rest of his career. He left theEvening Standard in 1950. That same year, he moved to theDaily Herald and stayed there until 1953. Finally, Low moved to theManchester Guardian and was there from 1953.
Low received aknighthood in the1962 Birthday Honours and died at his home in London on 19 September 1963.[11][12] His obituary inThe Guardian described him as "the dominant cartoonist of the western world".[13]
Ablue plaque commemorates Low at 33 Melbury Court, Kensington.[14]
Low married Madeline Grieve Kenning of Auckland on 7 June 1920 inSt. Paul's Church, Covent Garden; they lived for many years inGolders Green, North London.[1] The couple had two daughters: in 1939,Time described Low's breakfast as "a political meeting, with the cartoonist, his wife, and his two young daughters threshing out the news." His wife and daughters survived him.[1] In 1991, aBlue plaque was erected to commemorate his life at Melbury Court, Kensington High Street, London, W8 6NH, in theRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.[15]
United Kingdom
Australia
Low's cartoons continued to appear in Australian papers after his move to England. SeeList of David Low's Cartoons in Australian Newspapers.
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