| Philip
Zec, of Jewish descent, trained at St Martin's School
of Art. He then worked for an advertising agency, where
he met William Connor, who later became Cassandra of
the Daily Mirror. Zec left the agency to set
up his own commercial art studio, which became a great
success. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Zec
was commissioned by H.G. Bartholomew, editorial director
of the Daily Mirror, to whom he was introduced
by Connor, to do a daily cartoon. Zec's strong anti-Hitlerite
cartoons 'were an immediate success with the readers',
and Hitler recognised their power and added Zec's name
to the Nazi Blacklist (to be executed once Britain was
defeated). Zec was also personally commissioned to do
work for the Ministry of Information by Edwin
Embleton.
Zec's cartoons sometimes also upset the British government,
particularly his cartoon 'Don't waste petrol. It costs
lives', depicting a soldier clinging to a raft, smeared
with oil. Produced on March 5 1942, soon after the
government decided to increase the price of petrol,
Churchill was offended, and organised for MI5 to investigate
Zec. They reported that he was left wing, but there
was no evidence that he was involved in subversive
activities. The Daily Mirror, which had published
the cartoon, was given a severe reprimand. Another
noted cartoon by Zec was 'Here you are! Don't Lose
it Again', issued on V.E. Day, and used again on the
front page of the Daily Mirror when the Labour
Party won the 1945 General Election. Zec continued
to work for the Daily Mirror post-war, elected to
the Board of Directors of the Daily Mirror Group before
1951.
Information taken from: Spartacus Schoolnet,
'Philip Zec', http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jzec.htm,
accessed September 21 2003, and Questionnaire submitted
by Royall, K. to Embleton, E., Royall, K., 'Posters
of the Second World War: The Fourth Arm of British
Defence', Unpublished M.A.: University of Westminster,
1991, p.123
Related Links
|
