Hergé

Hergé was the pen name of Georges Prosper Remi (May 22, 1907 – March 3, 1983), a Belgian comic artist who created The Adventures of Tintin, one of the best-known and influential European comic series.

Born in Etterbeek, a municipality of Brussels, Remi began his career as a cartoonist for Le Petit Vingtième, the youth supplement of Le Vingtième Siècle. He adopted the pen name Hergé, derived from the initials RG (Remi Georges) reversed. Tintin first appeared in 1929 in Le Petit Vingtième and soon became a worldwide sensation, with Snowy the dog and a growing cast including Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus.

The work is noted for its clear line drawing, known as ligne claire, with precise, unshaded lines, flat colors, and carefully researched settings. Hergé's approach to travel, history, and culture helped define a modern, cinematic form of comics storytelling.

In 1950 he founded Studio Hergé, a workshop that produced Tintin material and trained assistants, helping to sustain the artist's prolific output over several decades. The Tintin franchise expanded to magazines, albums, and licensed products and contributed to the spread of the Belgian school of bande dessinée.

War and postwar periods presented controversy: during World War II Hergé worked for Le Soir, a newspaper aligned with the German occupation; after the war he faced inquiries but was not charged. Some albums, notably Tintin in the Congo (1931), have been criticized for colonial attitudes.

Hergé died in 1983. His legacy is preserved by the Moulinsart foundation (formerly the Hergé Foundation); a dedicated museum, the Hergé Museum, opened in 2009. Tintin remains widely translated and studied as a milestone of European comics.