U.K. Cartoonist Ronald Searle dies

British cartoonist Ronald Searle, best known for his fictional girls’ school St. Trinian’s creations has died at the age of 91 on Dec. 30 at a hospital in southern France.

His daughter Kate Searle told “(He) passed away peacefully in his sleep” said in a statement. 

Searle’s spindly schoolgirl creations first appeared in 1941 and first movie was released in 1945. His work regularly appeared in magazines and newspapers including Britain’s <Punch> and the <New Yorker>.  

His work recognised internationally and he won a number of awards. In France, he was awarded the national order Legion d’Honneur.  

He was born in Cambridge in 1920 and attended the Cambridge School of Art. He sold his first cartoon as a teenager but the war intervened.

Searle served with Britain’s Royal Engineers in World War Ⅱ and was captured in Singapore by Japanese. However, he continued to draw during his time as a prisoner of war.

He secretly made his sketches and hid drawings under the mattresses of other prisoners who suffered from cholera. He published his work that he created while being captive after the liberation and displayed at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Choi Sun-hwa sun@theasian.asia