Fernando Krahn

Fernando Krahn
Portrait of Fernando Krahn
Born	1935 Santiago de Chile
Died	18 February 2010 Barcelona
Occupation(s)	Painter, cartoonist, plastic artist
Spouse	María de la Luz Uribe
Children	Fernanda, Mathias, Santiago
Parent	Otto Krahn
Website	www.krahnfactory.com

Fernando Krahn (1935 – 18 February 2010) was a Chilean cartoonist and plastic artist. A celebrated cartoonist, his works were published in Esquire, The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The Reporter. In 1973 he was forced to flee his native country Chile to escape persecution after the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. Upon moving to Spain, he had over 40 children's books published, which earned him the SM Ediciones' International Illustration Prize in 2001.

Biography

Krahn was born in Santiago de Chile. His first drawings date from the period between 1952 and 1956,^[1] but his professional career, as a cartoonist and artist, did not start until 1961, in New York City,^[2][3] where he lived until 1969;^[1] during this time he had his cartoons published in magazines such as Esquire, The New Yorker, The Atlantic (then The Atlantic Monthly) and The Reporter^[2] He would return to his country in 1971, where he worked for the magazine Ercilla,^[1] but in 1973 had to move to Sitges, Spain, in order to escape from the September 11 coup d'état.^[3] After receiving a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation,^[4][5] he was able to produce his first animated film, El crimen perfecto, in 1976.^[4] In 1984, he began to work for the Barcelona's newspaper La Vanguardia, where he would publish cartoons and works of animation for the rest of his life.^[3]

Krahn contributed to newspapers such as El País, International Herald Tribune, Die Zeit and La Repubblica.^[4] He authored and illustrated more than forty children's books published in the United States, Spain, Chile and Venezuela;^[3] this work earned him the SM Ediciones' International Illustration Prize in 2001.^[4] Besides his work as an illustrator, he led Krahnfactory, an animated motion studio where he acted as scriptwriter and producer.^[3] There have been a few exhibitions devoted to his work: in 2006 Sabadell held one which was focused on his early work^[1] and Lleida hosted another one in 2008.^[4]

Personal life and death

Fernando had a daughter, called Fernanda,^[3] and two sons Santiago and Matias and he was married to Chilean writer María de la Luz Uribe, who died in 1994.^[4] Some of his wife's books were illustrated by him and her death is said to have influenced his later work.^[2] Krahn died in Barcelona^[3][6] on 18 February 2010 of an intestinal ischemia.^[3][7]

References

1. Bufill, Juan (May 24, 2006), "Historias sin palabras" (PDF), La Vanguardia (in Spanish)
2. Bufill, Juan (February 19, 2010), "Krahn, silencio definitivo", La Vanguardia (in Spanish), archived from the original on February 23, 2010, retrieved March 2, 2010
3. "Muere el dibujante y humorista Fernando Krahn", La Vanguardia (in Spanish), February 18, 2010, archived from the original on February 21, 2010, retrieved March 2, 2010
4. "El dibujante chileno Fernando Krahn muere en Barcelona", El Periódico (in Spanish), February 18, 2010
5. "Fernando Krahn". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
6. "El dibujante chileno Fernando Krahn muere en Barcelona a los 75 años", El Economista (in Spanish), February 18, 2010
7. Fernando Krahn dies Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Fernando Krahn's animation studio's official website
• Works by Fernando Krahn in LaVanguardia.es^{[permanent dead link‍]}