Famed political cartoonist Hermenegildo ‘Menchi’ Sábat dies aged 85
Award-winning Uruguayan artist,best known for his work with the Clarín newspaper, dies peacefully in his sleep.
Hermenegildo “Menchi” Sábat, the award-winning political cartoonist best-known for his work with the Clarín newspaper, died peacefully in his sleep on Monday at the age of 85.
Born in Montevideo in 1933, Sábat arrived in Argentina in 1965, leaving behind a job at Uruguay’s most important newspaper El País. He began his career in Argentina contributing to magazines such as
Primera Plana and Crisis, as well as the La Opinión newspaper. In 1973 he began working for Clarín, producing cartoons and caricatures based heavily on politics. Known for being fiercely critical of the Kirchnerite governments, Sábat regularly tackled aspects of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s presidency in his own trademark style.
Honoured for his work on multiple occasions, amongst his rollcall of prizes are the ‘Moors Cabot’ prize from Columbia University, for his work during Argent in a’ slast militar y dictatorship (1973-1986), as well as the Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI) prize. He was also a recipient of a Konex award.
As well as a cartoonist and caricaturist, Sábat was known for his skill as a photographer, jazz clarinetist and poet, notably compiling his caricatures with poems to produce books, the most famous being ‘Al Troesma con Cariño,’ which was dedicated to iconic tango singer Carlos Gardel.
Having inherited his name and talent for drawing from his grandfather, Sábat began drawing at 12, inspired by a portrait of the poet Rubén Darío. In interviews, however, Sábat had put the focus on his journalistic work, emphasising how his career began.
“In principle, I did not begin as a caricaturist. What I have mostly practised is journalism. So I’d better start by defining myself as a journalist,” he told
Gente magazine in 2016. “I worked for 17 years doing that activity in Uruguay.”
TRIBUTES
Clarín’s General Editor Ricardo Kirschbaum described Sábat as deserving of “an important and definitive place on the [Mount] Olympus of journalism” as he paid tribute to his former colleague in an interview this week.
“He was very observant of the newspapers and the media in general. His office was almost a museum ... it’s a big loss,” he told Radio Mitre.
In a statement on Facebook, President Mauricio Macri also paid tribute to the late artist, saying “his sharpness was recognised by readers and feared by undemocratic power.”
In the note, titled “Goodbye, dear Menchi Sábat,” the president said Sábat was an “artist, journalist and caricaturist who narrated a part of Argentine history with his drawings.”
“He was a silent editorialist, his pieces managed to synthesise better than anyone else moments and conflicts that went beyond words,” the president wrote. “Sábat was always brave, he was always smart. He was always honest.”
Drawing right up until the end, according to Clarín, Sábat went to the office daily.
“Yesterday Menchi left the newspaper like on any other day. As always he was dressed in a suit and tie and greeted anyone who he crossed paths with, his coworkers said in a statement on Tuesday. “Chau Maestro. See you tomorrow.”