# Victor Weisz > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Victor_Weisz > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Victor_Weisz.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Weisz > Source revision: 1356214717 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) German-British political cartoonist (1913–1966) Not to be confused with [Viktor Weisz](/source/Viktor_Weisz). **Victor Weisz** (25 April 1913 in Berlin, Germany – 23 February 1966[1] in London, England) was a German-British [political cartoonist](/source/Political_cartoonist), drawing under the name of **Vicky**. ## Biography Weisz's caricature of [Ernle Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield](/source/Ernle_Chatfield%2C_1st_Baron_Chatfield) Weisz was born in Berlin, Germany, to Hungarian-Jewish parents.[2] He studied at the [Berlin School of Art](/source/Berlin_University_of_the_Arts) 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-[Nazi](/source/Nazism) 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 [socialist](/source/Socialism) opinions, Weisz decided to leave Germany. In 1935, he went to live in the United Kingdom, and worked for the *[News Chronicle](/source/News_Chronicle)*, *[Daily Mirror](/source/Daily_Mirror)* and *[Evening Standard](/source/Evening_Standard)*. He maintained an independent stance, whatever the political hue of his employers ([Liberal](/source/Liberal_Party_(United_Kingdom)), [Labour](/source/Labour_Party_(United_Kingdom)) and [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(United_Kingdom)) 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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Supermac_(cartoon))', a spoof on the American comic-strip hero [Superman](/source/Superman). Contrary to the cartoonist's intention, the title Supermac benefited Macmillan, who went on to increase his parliamentary majority at the [1959 General Election](/source/1959_United_Kingdom_general_election). Earlier in the 1950s, Vicky had produced some memorable cartoons of Macmillan's predecessor, [Sir Anthony Eden](/source/Sir_Anthony_Eden), which made effective use of the [Homburg hat](/source/Anthony_Eden_hat) that had been Eden's "trademark" in the 1930s. Victor Weisz followed his father in suffering from [depression](/source/Clinical_depression) and [insomnia](/source/Insomnia); he committed suicide at his London home on 23[3] February 1966 aged 52, dying at 22 [Upper Wimpole Street](/source/Upper_Wimpole_Street), [Westminster](/source/Westminster). He left a widow, Inglelore Weisz, and an estate valued at £22,322.[4] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Concise [Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Concise [Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Concise [Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** "WEISZ Victor of 22 Upper Wimpole Street London W.1" in *Wills and Administrations 1966 (England and Wales)* (1967), p. 257 ## Further reading - Davies, Russell and Ottaway, Liz *Vicky* London: Secker & Warburg, 1987 ## External links Wikiquote has quotations related to ***[Victor Weisz](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/Victor_Weisz)***. Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Victor Weisz](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Victor_Weisz). - [British Cartoon Archive](http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/search/cartoon_item/artist%3Avicky) at the [University of Kent](/source/University_of_Kent) has a database of over 4,000 cartoons by Vicky and a [biographical article](http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/artists/victorweisz/biography) - [Chris Beetles website on "Vicky"](http://www.chrisbeetles.com/artists/vicky-victor-weisz-1913-1966.html) - ["Low vs Vicky" article from The Political Cartoon Society](http://www.politicalcartoon.co.uk/html/history11.html) - [1959 election cartoon by "Vicky" from GuardianUnlimited](https://web.archive.org/web/20011116083850/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gallery/image/0,9353,-10304183519,00.html) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States Israel Artists ULAN RKD Artists People Trove Deutsche Biographie DDB Other Open Library SNAC Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Victor Weisz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Weisz) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Weisz?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.