Armenian origin, Kiraz (Edmond Kirazian) was born in Cairo (Egypt) August 25, 1923. He died in Paris on August 11, 2020, in 96 years old.
Passionate about drawing, he began his artistic work very early and published his first political drawings to 17 years old, for newspapers such as “Image”, “Parade”, the “Réforme d’Alexandrie” or in “ Al Moussavar ”, under the name of “ Kiraz ”.
He arrived in Paris in 1945 and began drawing for the newspaper “La Bataille” (1950-51). He will then continue in the “Rouge et le Noir” (1951-52), “Samedi Soir” (1952-54), and “Ici Paris” (1955-59).
But it is thanks to the great industrialist Marcel Dassault, owner of the magazine “Jours de France”, that Kiraz owes his reputation by publishing every week, until 1987, the famous drawings of the “Parisiennes”. Young mischievous women, elongated silhouettes, huge eyes, the “Parisiennes” sketched by Kiraz were sophisticated and terribly stereotypical, ingenuous and brainless, mainly concerned with shopping and fashion. They will delight the French male gente, but also in several countries where Kiraz’s designs are known.
During his long career, Kiraz produced two black and white pages and one color page per week in “Jours de France”, for a total of 25,000 drawings.
Jean Eckian
Freelance journalist (Paris)
