François Cavanna
Illustration — Cavanna in 2005 François Cavanna (22 February 1923 – 29 January 2014) was a French author and satirical newspaper editor. Cavanna contributed to the creation and success of Hara-Kiri and Charlie Hebdo. He wrote in a variety of genres including reportage, satire, essays, novels, autobiography and humor.
Also recorded as Cavanna · Sépia
François Cavanna

Author/Auteur: Oscar J. Marianez (Personal photo/Photo personnelle) - Original uploader was Polmars at fr.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 2.0 fr
- Full name
- François Louis Cavanna.
- Born
- 1923. · 14th arrondissement of Paris.
- Died
- 2014. · Créteil.
- Nationality
- France.
- Occupation
- writer, comedian, journalist, caricaturist, satirist, publisher and media proprietor.
- Movements
- proletarian literature.
- Honours
- Prix Interallié and Prix Cazes.
- Languages
- French.
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Cavanna in 2005 François Cavanna (22 February 1923 – 29 January 2014) was a French author and satirical newspaper editor. Cavanna contributed to the creation and success of Hara-Kiri and Charlie Hebdo. He wrote in a variety of genres including reportage, satire, essays, novels, autobiography and humor.
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Note VALÉORINE
François Cavanna (1923–2014) was a caricaturist, comedian and journalist, among other activities, of French nationality. The caricaturist was born François Louis Cavanna in 14th arrondissement of Paris and died in Créteil. François Cavanna was also known as Sépia.
François Cavanna worked for Charlie Hebdo, Charlie Mensuel and Hara-Kiri. The caricaturist was associated with proletarian literature.
Languages used include French. Honours include Prix Cazes and Prix Interallié.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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- Identity
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Authority files
wikidata · Q324820 · wikipedia · François Cavanna
In this article
Biography
Biography
He also translated six books about famous cartoonists.
Cavanna was born in Nogent-sur-Marne. Although raised in France, he grew up surrounded by Italian immigrants due to his father being from Bettola, Italy. He dealt with this part of his life in his books Les Ritals and L'œil du lapin. At the age of 16, he took up various part-time jobs. He delivered letters for the postal service, sold fruit and vegetables, and was a mason's apprentice. His journalistic début came in 1945 when he began to work for the daily Libération. In November 1969, Hara-Kiri's sister weekly magazine was banned. Cavanna came up with the idea of renaming the magazine for the next week's issue, and thus, Charlie Hebdo was born. Later, he turned to autobiographical writing. Les Ritals dealt with his childhood, while Les Russkoffs (and later Maria) documented his experience in World War II, when he was transported to Germany to serve in the Service du Travail Obligatoire (Frenchmen serving as German slave-labour). Les Russkoffs was the novel for which he won the Prix Interallié in 1979. In Bête et méchant and Les yeux plus grands que le ventre he tells his hilarious experiences in Hara-Kiri and Charlie Hebdo. His final book, Lune de miel, published while he was still alive, deals with Cavanna's Parkinson disease.
Translations by Cavanna
Translations by Cavanna
• 1971: Li'l Abner, Éditions du Square • 1979: Crasse-Tignasse, éd. L'École des Loisirs • 1980: Max et Moritz de Wilhelm Busch, éd. L'École des Loisirs • 1988: L'Univers impitoyable de Gary Larson, éd. Presses de la Cité • 1989: L'Univers impitoyable de Gary Larson contre-attaque, éd. Presses de la Cité • 2007: Je ne suis pas n'importe qui! Jules Feiffer, éd. Futuropolis
François Cavanna
Virginiev
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1923
François Cavanna born at 14th arrondissement of Paris.
2014
François Cavanna died at Créteil.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
14th arrondissement of Paris.
Birth place
Créteil.
Death place
Publications
• 4, rue Choron (1965) • Cavanna (1968) • Je l’ai pas lu, je l’ai pas vu, mais j’en ai entendu causer (1970) • Les aventures de Dieu (1971) • Le saviez-vous? 1 (1971) • L'Aurore de l'humanité I: Et le singe devient con (1972) • Le saviez-vous? 2 (1974) • L'Aurore de l'humanité II: Le con se surpasse (1975) • Je l’ai pas lu, je l’ai pas vu, mais j’en ai entendu causer: chroniques de Hara Kiri hebdo, 1969 I (1975) • Je l’ai pas lu, je l’ai pas vu, mais j’en ai entendu causer: chroniques de Hara Kiri hebdo, 1969 II (1975) • Je l’ai pas lu, je l’ai pas vu, mais j’en ai entendu causer: chroniques de Hara Kiri hebdo, 1970 (1976) • Stop-crève (1976) • L'Aurore de l'humanité III: Où s'arrêtera-t-il? (1977) • Gauche, droite, piège à cons: chroniques de Hara Kiri hebdo de 1969 à 1976 (1978) • Les Ritals (1978) • Les Russkoffs (1979) • La Grande Encyclopédie Bête et Méchante (1980) • Louise la Pétroleuse (1981) • Bête et méchant (1981) • La Nouvelle Encyclopédie Bête et Méchante (1982) • Les Écritures – Les Aventures de Dieu et du petit Jésus (1982;2002) • Les yeux plus grands que le ventre (1983) • L'Almanach de Cavanna (1984) • Maria (1985) • Les fosses carolines (1986) • L’Oeil du Lapin (1987) • Les doigts plein d'encre (Photos de Robert Doisneau) (1987) • La couronne d’Irène (1988) • Les Aventures de Napoléon (1988) • Mignonne, allons voir si la rose... (1989) • Maman, au secours! (Dessins de Altan)(1990) • La belle fille sur le tas d’ordures (1991) • Coups de sang (1991) • Les grands imposteurs (1991) • Nos ancêtres les Gaulois, ou, l’histoire de France redécouverte par Cavanna (1991) • Cavanna par Cavanna (1992) • Le temps des égorgeurs (1992) • Dieu, Mozart, Le Pen et les autres: les nouveaux imposteurs (1992) • De Coluche à Mitterrand: l’intégrale de Cavanna dans Charlie Hebdo, année 1981 (1993) • Tonton, Messaline, Judas et les autres (1993;1999) • Les enfants de Germinal (1993) • Lettre ouverte aux culs-bénits (1994) • Les pensées (1994) • Coeur d'artichaut (1995) • La déesse mère: roman (1997) • Je t'aime (Dessins de Barbe) (1998) • Les Mérovingiens 1: Le Hun blond (1998). Historical romance about events in Gaul and Frankish Europe in the decades after Attila the Hun • Les Mérovingiens 2: La hache et la croix (1999) • Les Mérovingiens 3: Le dieu de Clotilde (2000) • Les Mérovingiens 4: Le sang de Clovis (2001) • Les Mérovingiens 5: Les reines rouges (2002) • Au fond du jardin (Photos de Patricia Méaille) (2002) • Les imposteurs (2003) • Sur les murs de la classe (2003) • Les Mérovingiens 6: L'adieu aux reines (2004) • Les années Charlie: 1969-2004 (2004) • Cavanna à Charlie Hebdo:1969-1981: Je l'ai pas lu, je l'ai pas vu... (2005) • Plus je regarde les hommes, plus j'aime les femmes... (2005) • Le voyage (2006). A historical novel about the voyages of Christopher Columbus told from the point of view of an Irish shipmate. • Hara Kiri Les belles images (2008) • Cavanna raconte Cavanna (2008) • La pub nous prend pour des cons, la pub nous rend cons (2009) • Instants de grâce (Photos de Leloir) (2010) • Le pire de Hara Kiri (2010) • Lune de miel (2010) • CRÈVE, DUCON! (2020)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q324820: François Cavanna
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “François Cavanna”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- L’immigration italienne en France à travers « Les Ritals » de François Cavanna, مجلة کلیة الآداب جامعة الفیوم, 2021
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2021
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
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Citations
References
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scholarly publication
L’immigration italienne en France à travers « Les Ritals » de François Cavanna, مجلة کلیة الآداب جامعة الفیوم, 2021Crossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q324820: François CavannaWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,582 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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