Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Mingote Dies

 

Drawing for the cover of the Army Communication Department calendar 

Obituary published today in ABC Newspaper

The brilliant Mr. Antonio Mingote passed away yesterday in Madrid at the age of 93.  Soldier, cartoonist, writer, member of the Spanish Royal Academy…  Contemplating his extensive professional career, it could be said that Mingote had done many things and had done them all well.  But if he has been outstanding in something above all else, it has been in his facet as a cartoonist.  Without a doubt,   Mr. Antonio Mingote has become an emblem of ABC newspaper –which for 59 years has published his drawings-, has created an important school and has earned the title master of cartoon. 
 

The funeral chapel was installed in the Cecilio Rodríguez Gardens, in the Retiro Park, and hundreds of people have passed by there to give their final farewell to a man who will be remembered for his fine sense of humour and for the natural manner with which, through his drawings, he expressed his love of Spain, his recognition of our Armed Forces’ labour or his defence of the victims of terrorism.
 

Tributes to Mingote have not taken long to come, and today the press is unanimously dedicating its praise to the great master.  Army General Alejandre dedicated some moving words for him in La Razón newspaper: ‘There has not been an Army Awards poster, there has not been any event of ours to which you have refused to lend your disinterested collaboration.  You have felt as comfortable among us as we have felt proud to have you in our circle’.  A good example of this disinterested collaboration is the calendar produced this year by the Army Communication Department, which carries one of his illustrations on the cover. 
 

Owing to all this, Mr. Antonio Mingote has been the recipient of numerous recognitions and distinctions, such as the Marquessate of Daroca, the Great Cross of Military Merit in the white division or the 2001 Army Awards special distinction.  All of these are shared Isabel, his widow, who especially in recent years has been the great artist’s support and channel of communication.
 

As well, units like Regiment ‘Alcázar de Toledo’ or Infantry Battalion ‘Zamora’ can say with pride: ‘Mingote was posted here’. 
 

From yesterday, Mingote has been in the heart and memory of all those who knew him and had the fortune of sharing their life with him.