HIS caricatures were driven from the situations he lived, political events or whatever else affected him. His works are dynamic and vivid, as you notice when you look at the faces of his characters. He is Alexander Saroukhan, the pioneer of political caricature in Egypt. Saroukhan, who was born in 1898 in Russia and died in Egypt in 1977, was an Egyptian-Armenian caricaturist whose drawings appeared in many Arabic and international newspapers and magazines. He was one of the best and most famous caricaturists in the Arab world. When he was ten years old, he moved to Turkey, where he studied languages. With his brother Levon Saroukhan, he published a weekly magazine. Later on, Saroukhan worked as a translator of the Russian, Turkish and English languages in the British army. At the same time, his caricatures were published in Armenian newspapers and magazines. In 1922, he left Turkey for Europe, where he studied at the Graphic Art Academy in Brussels. He proved to be a brilliant student, finishing his studies in only two years instead of the usual four. In 1924, Saroukhan arrived in Egypt with more than 125 of his artworks. His drawings were published in a satirical magazine called Armenian Cinema. Saroukhan presented some of his works at an exhibition in Cairo and then in Alexandria. Through these exhibitions, he met an Egyptian journalist called Mohamed el-Tabei, who was at that time Editor-in- Chief of the Egyptian magazine Rosa el- Yusuf. Working together, the two became the most important and influential journalists in Egypt for the next 20 years. Saroukhan worked as a caricaturist for the widely circulated Rose el-Yusuf, soon becoming known as a ‘political' caricaturist. His fame was also established through his character ‘El-Masri Effendi' (meaning ‘Egyptian Effendi'). Saroukhan left the magazine and joined the staff of another wellknown Egyptian magazine, Akher Sa'a (The Last Hour), which el-Tabei published until 1946. When el-Tabei sold Akher Sa'a to Akhbar el-Youm, Saroukhan moved to the new newspaper and worked there until his death in 1977. In 1942, he established the Egyptian French-language humour magazine La Caravane, which ran until 1945. He also contributed to Egypt's foreign language press, with cartoons in La Presse Egyptienne, Image and the Armenian daily Are v. He had many exhibitions in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Romania. Among Saroukhan's publications was This War, in which he warned of the advent of World War Two. It was considered his finest book, because it defined his talent for offering criticism in a humorous way. The Saroukhan style was prominent, independent and famous, as he drew more than 20,000 different caricatures …quot; political, social and humorous. His other publications include The Political Year 1938; a collection of political caricatures; a book in Armenian on the art of caricature, five satirical plays in Armenian; Our Seven Deadly Sins; and an article entitled ‘How I came to Egypt'.
