About the Author

Best known as the author of Asterix, Goscinny isalso the talent behind the scenario of Lucky Luke, the hugely popularcomic book of 'the cowboy who shoots faster than his shadow'. Goscinnywas born on 11 August 1926 in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, the sonof Stanislas (Simkha) from Warsaw and of Anna Beresniak fromKhodorkow, a small Ukrainian village. In 1928, his parents took him toArgentina, where his father, a chemical engineer, had beenseconded. He spent a happy childhood in Buenos Aires, and studied atthe French Lyce just before the Second World War. He had a habit ofmaking every one laugh in class, probably to compensate for a naturalshyness. He started drawing very early on, inspired by the illustratedstories which he enjoyed reading. In 1945, he emigrated to the UnitedStates. "I went to the United States to work with Walt Disney" he wasto say later ""but Walt Disney didn't know that"". He found himself inNew York, jobless, alone and totally broke. The next 6 years, which hespent in New York, are often considered his formative years. As hesaid "It was not so bad...it toughened me up, although I would haveliked it better if others had been toughened up on my behalf". It isduring these years that he met his first friends, some who were topublish "Mad" in 1945, and others with whom he was to collaborate fora long time to come. Among these was Maurice de Bvre aka Morris, thecartoonist and first author of Lucky Luke. He also met GeorgesTroisfontaines, the boss of the World Press Agency in Belgium, whopersuaded Goscinny to work for him. He returned to Europe in 1951 forthis purpose, but was fired in 1956 for trying to put in place acharter to protect the status of cartoonists and scenarist. The yearsuntil the creation of the magazine "Pilote" were years of transition,when Goscinny's talent matured and he seized upon manyopportunities. Besides his collaboration with Morris on the Lucky Lukeseries from 1955 onwards, Goscinny worked on the scenario of "Le petitNicolas" (Little Nicholas) in cartoon form with its creator, Sempe. In1959 the magazine "Pilote" was launched. Goscinny found his place in theeditorial team among some of his faithful friends from WorldPress. The aim of "Pilote" was to change radically the way that thegraphic novel ("the BD") would be perceived in France, and competedwith "Tintin" and "Spirou" magazines on their own territories. How best togo about that task than by inventing an astute little Gaul, give him alarge size sidekick and place their adventures within a little villageof irreducible Gauls whose names all end in -ix? Asterix is born. Thebande dessinee enters adulthood. He married Gilberte Pollaro-Millo in1967. In 1968 his daughter Anne is born. Many young authors owe theirfame to Goscinny, who opened for them the pages of "Pilote". Whileworking on scenarios for the televisi

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