Georges Remi, better known by his pen name Herge, was a Belgian cartoonist and illustrator who is widely recognized as one of the finest cartoonists of all time. He produced the classic Tintin comic strip, among many others, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest cartoonists of all time. Remi was a great student in school, graduating as the top student in his class, but his true passion was sketching. He had a propensity of drawing people’s daily routines, and several of his sketches were published in a local magazine while he was still in school. He enrolled in art school but dropped out after one lecture since the curriculum was dull to him, and he began painting on his own. Remi’s first job was as a waitress.
Childhood and Adolescence of Hergé
George Prosper Remi, better known by his pen name Herge, was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, on May 22, 1907. His parents were Alexis Remi and Elisabeth Dafour. His father worked in a confectionery factory, while his mother worked as a housewife and cared for the family.
Remi had gained the skill of sketching things he noticed in his daily life since he was a child. Drawing the many actions of the German soldiers who had seized Belgium during the First World War was his favorite subject when he was a student at Ixelles Municipal School No. 3. He began his secondary studies at the Place de Londres in Ixelles in 1919.
Remi enrolled at the Saint-Boniface School, a Roman Catholic institution ruled over by the archbishop, in 1920 and excelled as a student during his stay there. During his tenure at the Saint-Boniface School, his drawing was published for the first time.
In 1925, his interests as an artist and cartoonist led him to enroll in the Ecole Saint-Luc art school, but he dropped out after only one lecture because he found it dull. He intended to be a cartoonist for the newspaper ‘The Twentieth Century,’ but he ended up working in the subscription department instead. He joined the army the following year after becoming bored with his job, but he could only stay for a year because he disliked it.
A Career of Hergé
His first break came in 1926, when he began work on ‘The Adventures of Totor,’ a cartoon that was published in ‘Le Boy-Scout Belge.’ The comic was published for three years, albeit with sporadic consistency.
He was hired as a photographer and cartoonist by the publication Le VingtiemeSiecle in 1927. He did, however, continue to work for a variety of other publications, including ‘The Children’s Corner,’ which published one of his most well-known works at the time. In addition, his work was included in the newspaper’s literary section.
He developed the character Tintin in 1929, and his debut comic strip, ‘Tintin in the Land of the Soviets,’ was serialized in the magazine Le Petit Vingtienne. Tintin became a successful comic strip rapidly, and the following year he launched ‘Quick and Flupke,’ a comic strip about two Belgian street children. As Tintin’s popularity grew over the next decade, Herge continued to produce new comic strips.
Herge traveled to Paris after the Germans seized Belgium in 1939 during World War II, but returned and joined the daily Le Soir, where he continued to produce the Tintin comic strips effectively. To split the workload, he paired up with cartoonist Edgar P. Jacobs, and the two collaborated on the Tintin comic strip ‘The Seven Crystal Balls’ five years later. He had launched another successful comic strip, ‘The Adventures of Jo, Zette, and Jocko,’ two years before.
On September 2, 1944, Belgium was liberated from German domination, but Herge was suspected of being a Nazi and was imprisoned for a day. The accusations were dropped the following year, and he continued to work on Tintin comic strips, which had amassed a large fanbase. His former employers, Le Soir, had gone out of business by that time, but he continued to work with them.
He founded the Tintin Magazine in 1946, and the first edition was released in September of that year. He formed ‘Herge’ Studios four years later, and the organization was tasked with managing the several projects in which its owner was involved. During the next decade, Herge continued to work on Tintin comic strips while also dabbling in painting. The experiment with painting, on the other hand, was short-lived.
Following the success of the Asterix films, Herge agreed to the development of two films based on his Tintin comic strips, the first of which was titled “Tintin and the Temple of the Sun” and was released in 1969, followed by “Tintin and the Lake of Sharks” three years later.
Major Projects of Hergé
The development of ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ series of comic strips in 1929 was his most important accomplishment in his sparkling career as a cartoonist. The comic series is without a doubt one of the most popular ever created, and it is still read today all over the world.
Personal History and Legacy
In 1932, Herge Kieckens married Germaine Kieckens, but the pair divorced 45 years later. Herge had no children because radiation treatment had rendered him sterile.
On May 20, 1977, Herge married Fanny Vlamynck for the second time.
Herge died on March 3, 1983 in Woluwe-Saint Lambert, Belgium, after a four-year battle with bone marrow cancer.
Estimated Net Worth
Herge is one of the wealthiest cartoonists and one of the most popular. Herge’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.