Art Spiegelman
He elevated comics to literature by telling his father's Holocaust story with mice and cats, forcing a reckoning with history.
Born 1948 (age 78)·American cartoonist·Birthday: February 15·Baby Boomers
Biography
Art Spiegelman spent his career in the margins, both of the page and of culture, before dragging comics into the heart of the literary establishment. The son of Polish Jewish survivors, he channeled a lifetime of grappling with his family's trauma into 'Maus,' a graphic novel that depicted Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. The work was a brutal, intimate, and formally ingenious memoir that became a surprise bestseller and, in 1992, won a special Pulitzer Prize—a first for the medium. Beyond 'Maus,' Spiegelman has been a relentless avant-garde force, co-editing the groundbreaking magazine 'Raw' with his wife Françoise Mouly and creating provocative covers for The New Yorker that addressed events like 9/11. He is a chain-smoking, fiercely intellectual figure who proved that cartoons could carry the weight of history.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Art was born in 1948, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Art Was Born
The biggest hits of 1948
#1 Movie
The Red Shoes
Best Picture
Hamlet
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Art's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1948Born
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1953Started school
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1961Became a teenager
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1964Could drive
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1966Could vote
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1969Turned 21
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1978Turned 30
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 40
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 50
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 60
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 70
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 78 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the Pulitzer Prize Special Award in 1992 for his graphic novel 'Maus,' which depicted the Holocaust using anthropomorphic animals.
- Co-founded and edited 'Raw,' the influential comics magazine that introduced avant-garde cartoonists to a wider audience.
- His 1993 'New Yorker' cover featuring a Hasidic Jew and a Black woman kissing sparked intense national dialogue.
Did You Know?
He did early work for Topps Chewing Gum, creating novelty items like the 'Garbage Pail Kids' stickers.
Spiegelman was the first comics artist to receive a National Book Critics Circle award.
He and his wife, Françoise Mouly, have lived in the same SoHo loft in New York City for decades.
“Mice are a metaphor for the Jews. And the cats are the Nazis. It's not subtle.”
