Australian cartoonist and poet Michael Leunig dies aged 79

The master of whimsy has died. 



Celebrated cartoonist Michael Leunig, a long-time contributor to this masthead, has died, a post on an official social media account announced on Thursday evening.

Leunig’s death, at the age of 79, was confirmed by a close associate.

“The pen has run dry, its ink no longer flowing — yet Mr Curly and his ducks will remain etched in our hearts, cherished and eternal,” the post on Leunig’s Instagram account said.

“Michael Leunig passed away peacefully today, in the early hours of December 19, 2024. During his final days, he was surrounded by his children, loved ones, and sunflowers — accompanied as ever, by his dear old friends, Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.”

Since his first cartoon for The Age in September 1969, Leunig’s artwork has gained broad acclaim. It remained popular with readers until his final cartoon in The Age’s Spectrum section this year.

“Leunig was a master of his craft and a near-permanent fixture on the fridge doors and dining tables of the nation,” The Age editor Patrick Elligett said on Thursday night.


Michael Leunig photographed in 2014.Credit:Jay Cronan

“His passing will be mourned by millions, and felt acutely by readers of The Age, who for 55 years had the privilege of enjoying his work and wit.

“We are thinking of his friends and family at this difficult time. Farewell, Michael.”

When he left this masthead in August, Age Spectrum editor Lindy Percival wrote: “Through Leunig’s work, we have contemplated life’s beautiful and occasionally baffling moments: Mr Curly arriving home to his curly-headed family; a simple soul dreaming of floating coloured petals; and a father and son watching the sun set on TV, oblivious to the real thing happening outside their window.

“All the while, his angels have looked on – often in sorrow, sometimes in anger, but always with love.”

In 1997, the National Trust named Leunig as one of Australia’s 100 living treasures, alongside the likes of Sir Donald Bradman and Slim Dusty.

Leunig described his cartoons as regressive, humorous, messy, mystical, primal and vaudevillian.

Artist Jim Pavlidis, his former colleague at The Age, said: “Whimsy, philosophical reflection, and the views of the outsider are the bread and butter of cartoonists today, but that’s Michael’s legacy.

“Michael was a wonderful and inquisitive conversationalist. He was 19 years older and a hero but never talked at me, he always asked lots of questions and made me feel an equal, even though we clearly weren’t.”

Born in East Melbourne on June 2, 1945, as the second eldest of five children, he went to school at Footscray North Primary School and Maribyrnong High School.

On his website, he described the likes of Enid Blyton and the Beatles as early creative influences, before “his political consciousness intensified radically” when he was conscripted to serve in Vietnam. Due to total deafness in one ear, he was ultimately knocked back from military service. He worked in an abattoir and factories before beginning work as a political cartoonist in 1969.

In a 1998 Good Weekend feature, his works were described as poignant, often controversial and ones that “rarely fail to touch a chord”.

In the 21st century, Leunig’s political cartoons opposed the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq amid the “War on Terror” after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

On his website, he described this period as a watershed moment in his daily cartooning career that caused particular controversy and left him “disillusioned and alienated”.

Later, a cartoon that suggested some mothers love their smartphones more than their children set off a social media storm as many labelled the work misogynistic, which Leunig denied.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns of 2021, Leunig’s cartoon comparing mandatory vaccinations to the iconic photo of a Chinese tank bearing down on a lone dissenter amid the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests again proved controversial.

Broadcaster Phillip Adams, another of the National Trust’s 100 Australian Living Treasures, paid tribute to Leunig on late on Thursday.

“Vale Mike,” Adams wrote in a post on X. “Yes, Leunig sometimes got things wrong – but when he was right he was magnificent. Friends for half a century.”

On Thursday night, the media union, the MEAA, wrote on social media: “Love him or hate him – and there were plenty of both – Michael Leunig was a giant of Australian cartooning for more than half a century.”

In recent years, Leunig lived in northern Victoria near the town of Strathbogie and his work was often displayed at the Queenscliff Gallery.

In a speech at the gallery this year, Leunig paid tribute to other artists, writers, musicians and creators who had inspired him.

“In my growing up, you get inspired, and you think: ‘Oh, I’d love to be part of that world.’ Where people create something, and offer something, and it moves people,” he said. “Since I was young, I think I wanted to do something like that.”

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/celebrated-cartoonist-michael-leunig...

Leunig cartoons were among the best

Captain Nemo wrote on Dec 19^th, 2024 at 11:06pm:



Michael Leunig's 55-year career at The Age came to an end last week when the editor of the Melbourne-based masthead, Patrick Elligett, told subscribers the cartoonist had 'filed his last editorial illustration'.

But Leunig, 79, is refusing to go quietly, and delivered a blunt farewell message to the newspaper by accusing its editors of censorship and branding it a 'tacky tabloid'.

He described his sacking as a 'throat-cutting exercise' and took umbrage that Elligett did not tell readers it was his decision to end his career.

'There was no mention of the fact that he (Elligett) gave me the axe,' Leunig told The Australian.

'I was expecting it, as I have parted ways with The Age philosophically (and) culturally. I don’t read it really, I just scan it. It’s a sad story because I began there when it was a substantial newspaper.

'It’s almost embarrassing now to say that I worked for The Age. It’s become like a tacky tabloid.'

Mr Elligett said his only comment in response was 'to thank Michael Leunig for his contribution to The Age over many decades'.