| Stéphane Charbonnier | |
|---|---|
 Charb by the headquarters ofCharlie Hebdo in the 20th arrondissement ofParis answering journalists' questions after its firebombing (2 November 2011) | |
| Born | Stéphane Jean-Abel Michel Charbonnier (1967-08-21)21 August 1967 Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France |
| Died | 7 January 2015(2015-01-07) (aged 47) Paris 11e, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist,journalist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Charb |
| Signature | |
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Stéphane Jean-Abel Michel Charbonnier (French:[ʃaʁbɔnje]; 21 August 1967 – 7 January 2015), better known asCharb ([ʃaʁb]), was a Frenchsatiricalcaricaturist andjournalist. He was assassinated during theCharlie Hebdo shooting on 7 January 2015.[1][2]
He worked for several newspapers and magazines, joiningCharlie Hebdo in 1992 and becoming the director of publication in 2009.[3] Due to thepublication of Muhammad cartoons, Charb became subject to death threats from extremist Muslims. From the time the magazine was firebombed in 2011, he lived under police protection until his assassination. The police officer protecting Charb on 7 January 2015 was also killed by the shooters.
Stéphane Charbonnier was born inConflans-Sainte-Honorine on 21 August 1967[4] and raised inPontoise, the son of Michel Jean-Marie Charbonnier. His mother, Denise Renée-Marie Charbonnier, née Ouvrard, worked as a secretary and his father worked as a technician forPostes, télégraphes et téléphones.[5] His grandparents, Jean and Lucette Marie-Andrée (née Brunet) owned a grocery store in Pontoise. Stéphane's talent for drawing was discovered in school and he published his first drawings inEcho des collégiens at the age of fourteen. He continued to draw while studying at Lycée Camille Pissarro.[6]
In the late 1980s he started working as a cartoonist. His work included creating cartoons for the newspaperLes Nouvelles du Val-d'Oise and a magazine for theUtopia (cinéma) [fr] inSaint-Ouen-l'Aumône.[6]
Later freelance work by Charb included cartoons forL'Écho des savanes,Télérama, andL'Humanité.[7] He joinedCharlie Hebdo in 1992 and was its director of publication from 2009 until his death on 7 January 2015.[8]
Charb's comic strip,Maurice et Patapon featured Maurice, a dog described by the newspaperLibération as leftist, pacifist, outgoing, and omnisexual, and a cat,Patapon, who is conservative, violent, asexual, and perverse. Libération described the series as philosophical andscatological.[5] Charb also drew the character "Marcel Keuf, le flic" ("Marcel Pig, the cop") inFluide Glacial.[9] Charb's column inCharlie Hebdo was titled "Charb n'aime pas les gens" ("Charb does not like people"). One of his regular pieces was the monthlyLa fatwa de l'Ayatollah Charb (The Fatwa of the Ayatollah Charb) inFluide Glacial.[10]
In 2007 and 2008, he was a set cartoonist on the talk showT'empêches tout le monde de dormir on television channelM6.[11] He was a long-time supporter of theFrench Communist Party.[12]
He also drew cartoons for anti-racism organizations such asMRAP.[13]
On 2 November 2011,Charlie Hebdowas firebombed just before its 3 November issue was due to be published; the issue was entitledCharia Hebdo and satirically featured the Islamic prophetMuhammad as guest-editor.[14][15] Charb and two of his co-workers atCharlie Hebdo subsequently received police protection.[16]
In September 2012, a man was arrested inLa Rochelle, allegedly for having called for the beheading of Charb on aJihadist website.[17]
In a 2012 interview Charb was quoted as saying, "I am not afraid of reprisals, I have no children, no wife, no car, no debt. It might sound a bit pompous, but I'd prefer to die on my feet than to live on my knees."[18]
In 2013 he illustrated the book "The Life of Muhammad", depicting the Muslim ProphetMuhammad.[19]
Al-Qaeda put Charb on their "most-wanted list" in 2013,[20][21] after he edited an edition ofCharlie Hebdo that satirised radicalmuslims.[22] Also on that list wasLars Vilks, as well as threeJyllands-Posten staff members:Kurt Westergaard (whose cartoonsCharlie Hebdo had published),Carsten Juste, andFlemming Rose.[20][21][23] Being a sport shooter, Charb applied for permit to be able tocarry a firearm for self-defence. The application was, however, not approved.[24]
On the week of theCharlie Hebdo shooting, a Charb illustration in issue for that week observed that there had not been any terrorist attacks in France, with a caricatured armed jihadist fighter turning a customary French phrase to malicious use: "Wait! ... we still have until the end of January to present our wishes" — a reference to the French tradition of offering New Year's greetings until the end of January.[25]
Charbonnier was anatheist andpacifist.[10][26][27]
Two days prior to his death, Charb had completed an essay on Islamophobia.[28] One year after the massacre, it was translated to and published in English, with a foreword byAdam Gopnik, under the titleOpen Letter: On Blasphemy, Islamophobia, and the True Enemies of Free Expression.
Charb was killed, with seven of his colleagues, two police officers, and two other people on 7 January 2015when a pair of gunmen stormed theCharlie Hebdo newspaper offices in Paris.[29][30] One of the police officers killed, Franck Brinsolaro, was Charb's bodyguard.[31]
His funeral was held in Pontoise and included speeches byLuz,Patrick Pelloux,Jean-Luc Mélenchon, andPierre Laurent. The government ministersChristiane Taubira,Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, andFleur Pellerin also attended the funeral.[32]
Jeannette Bougrab, a human rights attorney and former Minister for Youth and Community Life, indicated after his death that she had been Charb'slife partner.[33][34][35] His family disputed this and, in a statement issued by his brother on 10 January 2015, denied the existence of any "interpersonal commitment" between Charb and Jeannette Bougrab[36] while, on the other side, several of his colleagues confirmed the relationship between Charb and Jeanette Bougrab.
Stéphane Charbonnier ("Charb"), cartoonist and editor of Charlie Hebdo, was murdered on January 7th, aged 47
Je n'ai pas peur des représailles. Je n'ai pas de gosses, pas de femme, pas de voiture, pas de crédit. Ça fait sûrement un peu pompeux, mais je préfère mourir debout que vivre à genoux.
Witnesses said that the gunmen had called out the names of individual from the magazine. French media report that Charb, the Charlie Hebdo cartoonist who was on al Qaeda most wanted list in 2013, was seriously injured.
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.
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