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{{Short description|Indian cartoonist and author}}
'''Attupurathu Mathew Abraham''', pen name ''Abu'' ([[June 11]], [[1924]] - [[December 1]], [[2002]]) was an [[India]]n [[cartoonist]], [[journalist]], and [[author]]. He was a life-long [[atheist]] and [[rationalist]].<ref>"His strongest theme, as India sank faster into factional and religious politics, had remained adherence to the original vision of Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru for a wholly secular state: Abu was a rationalist and atheist." Michael McNay, 'Obituary: Abu Abraham', ''The Guardian'', 7 December 2002, Pg. 26.</ref>▼
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
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| birth_name = Attupurathu Mathew Abraham
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|6|11|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Mavelikara]], [[Travancore]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|12|1|1924|6|11|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| nationality =
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| cartoonist = y
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| alias = Abu
| signature = <!-- very optional -->
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In'''Attupurathu aMathew longAbraham''' career(11 spanningJune 401924 years– 1 December 2002), pen name ''Abu'', Abrahamwas lendan hisIndian service[[cartoonist]], tojournalist, and author. In a broadcareer spanning 40 years, Abu Abraham worked spectrumfor ofvarious national and international newspapers including ''[[The Bombay Chronicle]]'', ''[[Shankar’sShankar's Weekly]]'', ''[[Blitz (newspaper)|Blitz]]'', ''Tribune'', ''[[The Observer]]'' (1956-661956–1966), ''[[The Guardian]]'' (1966-691966–1969), and ''[[The Indian Express]]'' (1969-811969–1981).▼
 
▲'''Attupurathu Mathew Abraham''', pen name ''Abu'' ([[June 11]], [[1924]] - [[December 1]], [[2002]]) was an [[India]]n [[cartoonist]], [[journalist]], and [[author]]. He was a life-longlifelong [[atheist]] and [[rationalist]].<ref>"His strongest theme, as India sank faster into factional and religious politics, had remained adherence to the original vision of Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru for a wholly secular state: Abu was a rationalist and atheist." Michael McNay, 'Obituary: Abu Abraham', ''The Guardian'', 7 December 2002, Pg. 26.</ref>
▲In a long career spanning 40 years, Abu Abraham lend his service to a broad spectrum of national and international newspapers including [[The Bombay Chronicle]], [[Shankar’s Weekly]], [[Blitz (newspaper)|Blitz]], Tribune, [[The Observer]] (1956-66), [[The Guardian]] (1966-69), and [[The Indian Express]] (1969-81).
 
==EaryEarly years==
 
Born in [[TiruvallaMavelikara]],[[ Kerala]]<ref name="Bryant">Mark Bryant, ''Fleet Street's Star of India'', History Today, '''57'''(6) pp. 58-5958–59 (June 2007)</ref> as the son of A.M. Mathew and Kantamma, Abu started drawing cartoons at the age of 3. After studying [[French language|French]], [[Mathematics]], and [[English language|English]] at [[University College, [[Thiruvananthapuram]] (Trivandrum) and being the [[tennis]] champion, he graduated in 1945.<ref name="Bryant"/> He moved to [[Mumbai|Bombay]] where he became a journalist in [[The Bombay Chronicle]] and its sister paper, [[The Bombay Sentinal]] while contributing cartoons to ''Blitz'' and ''Bharat''. In 1951, he was invited by Shankar, one of India's best known cartoonists at the time, to move to [[New Delhi]] to work in the [[Shankar’s Weekly]].
 
==Work in London==
In 1953, he met Fred Joss of the London ''[[The Star (London1888)|Star]]'', who encouraged him to move to [[London]].<ref name="Bryant"/> At 32, Abu arrived in London in the summer of 1953 and immediately sold cartoons to [[Punch (magazine)|''Punch'' magazine]] and the ''[[Daily Sketch]]'' and started to contribute material to ''Everybodys' London Opinion'' and ''Eastern World'' using the pen name 'Abraham'.<ref name="Bryant"/> In 1956, after two cartoons were published in ''[[Tribune (magazine)|Tribune]]'', he was sent a personal letter by [[David Astor]], the editor of ''[[The Observer]]'', the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, offering him a permanent job as its first ever political cartoonist. Astor asked Abu to change his pen name as 'Abraham' would imply a false slant on his cartoons, and so he settled on 'Abu', a schoolboy nickname of his.<ref name="Bryant"/>
 
Abu immersed himself in British culture and produced incisive political cartoons. He was described in ''[[The Guardian]]'' as "the conscience of the Left and the pea under the princess's mattress".<ref name="Bryant"/>. He also produced reportage drawings from around the world. In 1962 in [[Cuba]] he drew [[Che Guevara]] and spent three hours in a nightclub with [[Fidel Castro]].<ref name="Bryant" />
 
In September 1966, Abu moved to ''The Guardian'' and started to contribute a weekly cartoon to ''Tribune''. During 1968 he edited ''Verdicts on Vietnam'', a collection of cartoons about the [[Vietnam war]].
 
==Return to India==
He returned to [[India]] with his first wife (Sarojini, from [[Tamil Nadu]], who he later divorced) and two daughters, AyshaAyisha and Janaki, in 1969 to work as the political cartoonist on the ''Indian Express'' until 1981. In 1970 he was given a special award by the [[British Film Institute]] for a short film based on [[Noah's Ark]] called ''No Arks''.<ref name="Bryant" /> From 1972 until 1978, he was electednominated toa member of the [[Rajya Sabha]], the upper house of the Indian Parliament.<ref name="Bryant" />
 
In 1975 [[Indian Emergency (1975 - 77)|Indian Emergency]] was declared and the freedom of the press was suspended, and Abu fell out of favour with [[Indira Gandhi]]. The direct result of this was the publication of the book ''Games of the Emergency'' in 1977, which contained the political articles and cartoons that he could not print during ''Thethe Emergency''. As well as illustrating other books, other collections of his cartoons were ''Abu on Bangladesh'' (1972), ''Private View'' (1974), and ''Arrivals and Departures'' (1983). He also edited the ''Penguin Book of Indian Cartoons'' (1988).<ref name="Bryant" />
 
From 1981, Abu worked as a freelancer, syndicating his work to several newspapers and commencing a new strip cartoon, ''Salt and Pepper''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Qureishi|first=Humra|title=Cartoonist who provokes you to think|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031102/spectrum/main4.htm|newspaper=The Sunday Tribune|date=2 November 2003}}</ref> The crow and the elephant in this philosophical strip begin to take over from the political cartoons, according to his daughter Ayisha Abraham. In 1988 Abu moved back to Kerala.<ref name="Bryant" /> He died on 1 December 2002 and was survived by his British-born wife Psyche. His death was marked by a two-minute silence in the Rajya Sabha and he was cremated with full state honours.<ref name="Bryant" />
The hallmark of Abu Abraham’s cartoons was their merciless attack upon the corruption in politics. As a mark of the man, his cartoons were an assortment of simple lines that stood out for their directness of expression augmented by arresting [[punch line]]s that never missed the mark.
 
From 1981, Abu was [[freelance]], and then from 1988 mover back to Kerala.<ref name="Bryant" /> He died on 1 December 2002 and was survived by his [[United Kingdom|British]]-born wife Psyche. His death was marked by a two-minute silence in the Rajya Sabha and he was cremated with full state honours.<ref name="Bryant" />
 
==References==
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==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[http://www.flonnet.com/fl1926/stories/20030103003110100.htm Frontline Archives]▼
* [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AAbu+Abraham%2C&dblist=638&fq=ap%3A%22abu+abraham%22&qt=facet_ap%3A Abu Abraham bibliography at WorldCat]
*[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031102/spectrum/main4.htm Report from Spectrum, The Tribune] dated [[2 November]], [[2003]].▼
*[https://www.theguardian.com/video/page/0,,2080893,00.html No Arks, animation film written by Abu Abraham]
*[http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/search/cartoon_item/abu?artist=Abu%20Abraham Abu Abraham's cartoons at the British Cartoon Archive]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
▲*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051120190033/http://www.flonnet.com/fl1926/stories/20030103003110100.htm Frontline Archives]
▲*[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031102/spectrum/main4.htm Report from Spectrum, The Tribune] dated [[2 November]], [[2003]].
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/oct/31abu.htm Rediff.com article]
*[http://www.cartoonistsindia.com/htm/homage.htm Homage from Indian Institute of Cartoonists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926002212/http://www.cartoonistsindia.com/htm/homage.htm |date=26 September 2017 }}
 
{{Cartoonists from Kerala}}
 
{{Authority control}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, Abu}}
[[Category:Indian atheists]]
[[Category:Indian editorial cartoonists]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Writers from Kerala]]
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:MalayaliUniversity peopleCollege Thiruvananthapuram alumni]]
[[Category:People from KeralaAlappuzha district]]
[[Category:Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha]]
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