Albert Uderzo

Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020 ), better known as Albert Uderzo , was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the Astérix series in collaboration with René Goscinny. He also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, again with Goscinny. Uderzo retired in September 2011.

Early life Uderzo was born in Fismes in the Marne department of France on 25 April 1927 as the fourth child of Italian immigrants Silvio Uderzo (1888–1985), a carpenter, and his wife Iria Uderzo (, 1897–1997). His parents had met in 1915 in La Spezia, where Silvio Uderzo was recovering after being wounded while serving in the Royal Italian Army during World War I. Uderzo's mother, Iria Crestini, was working in the arsenals of La Spezia, along with many young Italian women at the time. Silvio was discharged from military service after the war, on 19 June 1919. The two became a couple and married shortly before the birth of their first child, Bruno (1920–2004). After Bruno, they had Rina in 1922. They moved from Italy to France with their then two children, first settling in Chauny in the Aisne departement. They changed location regularly. In Chauny, a son named Albert was born in 1925 but died of pneumonia at the age of 8 months. The Uderzos decided to name their next son in honor of the late brother. The name "Albert", that of the deceased brother, became the Italian "Alberto" because the registrar misunderstood Silvio Uderzo's heavy Italian accent. The name "Aleandro" is in honor of Uderzo's paternal grandfather.

Uderzo was born on the morning of 25 April 1927 around 07:00. At this point, he was an Italian citizen rather than a French one. Uderzo was born with six fingers on each hand. The additional fingers were surgically removed early in childhood as a precaution, as the infant Uderzo would sometimes violently pull on them when enraged or annoyed. In 1958 they adapted Oumpah-pah for serial publication in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Tintin, where it ran until 1962. In 1959 Goscinny and Uderzo became editor and artistic director (respectively) of Pilote magazine, a new venture aimed at older children. The magazine's first issue introduced Astérix to the French world, and it was an instant hit. During this period Uderzo also collaborated with Jean-Michel Charlier on the realistic series Michel Tanguy, later named Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure. New Astérix albums were regularly published by the duo over the next sixteen years, until Goscinny’s sudden death in 1977. Thereafter Uderzo continued to write and illustrate the books on his own, published by his own publishing house "Albert René", though at a significantly slower pace (averaging one edition every three to five years compared to two editions a year when working with Goscinny).

Family Uderzo married Ada Milani in 1953 and had one daughter Sylvie Uderzo (b. 1956).

After Uderzo fired Sylvie and her husband in 2007 as managers of his estate and agreed to sell his share of Éditions Albert René to Hachette Livre, Sylvie accused him in a column in Le Monde, that with this sale to a corporation it was "as if the gates of the Gaulish village had been thrown open to the Roman Empire". Uderzo had previously stated in interviews that Asterix would end with his death; however, the terms of the sale to Hachette allowed the company to continue producing Asterix titles indefinitely with or without Uderzo's participation. Uderzo in 2013 sued his daughter and son-in-law for "psychological violence". Sylvie responded with a lawsuit claiming persons unnamed had abused her father's "frailty". Her case was thrown out of court in 2014 and the two reached an amicable settlement.

Upon Uderzo's retirement in 2011, Asterix was taken over by Jean-Yves Ferri (script) and Didier Conrad (art).

Sylvie owned 40% of Éditions Albert René before selling her parts to Hachette. The publishing group now owns 100%, after the remaining 60%, previously owned by Uderzo and by Goscinny's daughter, were also sold to Hachette Livre.

Uderzo's brother, Marcel, was also a cartoonist. Marcel Uderzo worked with his brother Albert for the drawing and coloring of about twelve Asterix albums.

Death On 24 March 2020, Uderzo died in his sleep at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine, after suffering a heart attack, at the age of 92.

Awards 1985: Awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour 1999: Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, special prize for the millennium 2004: Max & Moritz Prize Special Prize for outstanding life's work 2005: Inducted into the Eisner Award Hall of Fame, U.S. 2006: Awarded the Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion 2013: Awarded the Officer of the Legion of Honour