WEISZ, VICTOR (Vicky; 1913–1966)

WEISZ, VICTOR ("Vicky"; 1913–1966), British caricaturist whose incisive drawings and gift for portraying political personalities in mock-heroic attitudes won him a wide following. Born in Berlin of Hungarian parents, he was trained at the Berlin Art School and worked for German newspapers. He immigrated to England in 1935, became attached to the New Chronicle in 1941, and later joined the Daily Mirror. He was naturalized in 1946. He did much of his best work for the New Statesman from 1954, and for the Evening Standard from 1958. He illustrated several books and also published several collections of his work: Stabs in the Back (1952); New Statesman Profiles (1957); Vicky's World (1959); Vicky Must Go (1960); A Selection of "Evening Standard" Cartoons (1962); and Home and Abroad (1964). "Vicky" was one of the most famous political cartoonists in modern Britain. He was termed "the fifth estate of the realm" by Michael Foot, and was responsible for such popular political images as that of Harold Macmillan (British prime minister, 1957–63) as "Super-Mac." In private life, however, Weisz was extremely insecure. He was married four times, suffered from depression, and committed suicide at the age of 52. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Le Foe, in: Contemporary Review, 208 (1966), 134f. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online.