{{Short description|German-British political cartoonist (1913–1966)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{distinguish|Viktor Weisz}} '''Victor Weisz''' (25 April 1913 in Berlin, Germany – 23 February 1966<ref>Concise [[Dictionary of National Biography]]</ref> in London, England) was a German-British [[political cartoonist]], drawing under the name of '''Vicky'''.
== Biography == [[File:INF3-54 Admiral of the Fleet Lord Chatfield Artist Vicky.jpg|thumb|Weisz's caricature of [[Ernle Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield]]]] Weisz was born in Berlin, Germany, to Hungarian-Jewish parents.<ref>Concise [[Dictionary of National Biography]]</ref> He studied at the [[Berlin University of the Arts|Berlin School of Art]] and by 1928, at the age of fifteen, he was working as a freelancer, drawing caricatures. His father took his own life that same year and Weisz began work with the journal ''12 Uhr Blatt''. His work also appeared in other German newspapers.
Weisz's cartoons took a very strong anti-[[Nazism|Nazi]] stance. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they took over the journal where Weisz worked. As a member of the Jewish community with expressed [[socialism|socialist]] opinions, Weisz decided to leave Germany. In 1935, he went to live in the United Kingdom, and worked for the ''[[News Chronicle]]'', ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' and ''[[Evening Standard]]''. He maintained an independent stance, whatever the political hue of his employers ([[Liberal Party (United Kingdom)|Liberal]], [[Labour Party (United Kingdom)|Labour]] and [[Conservative Party (United Kingdom)|Conservative]] respectively), and built a reputation as an incisive commentator on political events.
At the ''Daily Mirror'', Weisz published the ''Nazi Nugget'' series. By the 1940s, Weisz, using the pseudonym "Vicky", was one of the leading British left-wing cartoonists. Weisz worked alongside fellow left-wing cartoonist [[Philip Zec]] at the ''Mirror'' and replaced him as the paper's chief political cartoonist in 1954.
In the 1950s boom years, many observers felt that the Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]]'s demeanour as an Edwardian aristocrat was out of step with the times. "Vicky", as the lead political cartoonist of the ''News Chronicle'', ridiculed him as '[[Supermac (cartoon)|Supermac]]', a spoof on the American comic-strip hero [[Superman]]. Contrary to the cartoonist's intention, the title Supermac benefited Macmillan, who went on to increase his parliamentary majority at the [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959 General Election]]. Earlier in the 1950s, Vicky had produced some memorable cartoons of Macmillan's predecessor, [[Sir Anthony Eden]], which made effective use of the [[Anthony Eden hat|Homburg hat]] that had been Eden's "trademark" in the 1930s.
Victor Weisz followed his father in suffering from [[clinical depression|depression]] and [[insomnia]]; he committed suicide at his London home on 23<ref>Concise [[Dictionary of National Biography]]</ref> February 1966 aged 52, dying at 22 [[Upper Wimpole Street]], [[Westminster]]. He left a widow, Inglelore Weisz, and an estate valued at £22,322.<ref>"WEISZ Victor of 22 Upper Wimpole Street London W.1" in ''Wills and Administrations 1966 (England and Wales)'' (1967), p. 257</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == * Davies, Russell and Ottaway, Liz ''Vicky'' London: Secker & Warburg, 1987
== External links == {{wikiquote}} {{commons category}} * [http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/search/cartoon_item/artist%3Avicky British Cartoon Archive] at the [[University of Kent]] has a database of over 4,000 cartoons by Vicky and a [http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/artists/victorweisz/biography biographical article] * [http://www.chrisbeetles.com/artists/vicky-victor-weisz-1913-1966.html Chris Beetles website on "Vicky"] * [http://www.politicalcartoon.co.uk/html/history11.html "Low vs Vicky" article from The Political Cartoon Society] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20011116083850/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gallery/image/0,9353,-10304183519,00.html 1959 election cartoon by "Vicky" from GuardianUnlimited]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisz, Victor}} [[Category:1913 births]] [[Category:1966 deaths]] [[Category:British editorial cartoonists]] [[Category:German editorial cartoonists]] [[Category:British caricaturists]] [[Category:German caricaturists]] [[Category:German people of Hungarian-Jewish descent]] [[Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Artists from Berlin]] [[Category:Artists who died by suicide]] [[Category:Suicides in Westminster]] [[Category:1966 suicides]] [[Category:British Jews]]