Gat Perich international award winner 2015
Willem
Bernhard Willem Holtrop, born April 2 1941 in Ermelo (Holland), he is a satirical cartoonist. He has been living in France since 1968. He studied at the School of Arts in Arnhem and at Bois-le-Duc from 1962 to 1967. In 1966 he founded the satirical magazine God, Nederland & Oranje, the subject of great controversy and persecution for it’s satirical virulence. He arrived in France in 1968 and began to draw for the magazine L’Enragé in May 1968, and for the first numbers of Hebdo-Hara-Kiri that would later become Charlie Hebdo. He was chief editor and publisher of Charlie Mensuel. His style is characterized by the use of an iconoclastic imagery with a strong sexual, scatological, sometimes violent tone, combined with a biting social and political satire. He collaborated in Charlie Mensuel and finally became the editor, with the magazine’s viewpoint creating a springboard for young artists. He has been drawing for the newspaper Liberation since 1981 and also collaborating for the magazine Siné Mensuel. He has published a long list of books of drawings, comic books and albums and in 2013 became the first Dutchman to receive the grand prize of Ville d'Angouleme. Besides the International Gat Perich Humour Award he has also been awarded the Stripschap Award and the Grand Prix of Humour Vache of Sant Just le Martel.