Albert Uderzo

Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (alˈbɛrto aleˈandro uˈdɛrtso; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo (albɛʁ ydɛʁzo), was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the Astérix series in collaboration with René Goscinny. He also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, again with Goscinny. Uderzo retired in September 2011. Uderzo was born in Fismes in the Marne department of France on 25 April 1927 as the fourth child of Italian immigrants Silvio Uderzo (1888–1985) and his wife Iria Uderzo (born Crestini, 1897–1997). His parents had met in 1915 in La Spezia, where Silvio Uderzo was recovering after he had been wounded in his service for the Royal Italian Army during World War I. Uderzo's mother, Iria Crestini, was working in the arsenals of La Spezia, along with many young Italian women at the time. Silvio was dismissed from military service after the end of the war, on 19 June 1919. The two became a couple and married shortly before the birth of their first child, Bruno (1920–2004). After Bruno, they had Rina in 1922. They moved from Italy to France with their then two children, first settling in Chauny in the Aisne departement. Because of Silvio's occupation as a carpenter, they had to change location regularly. In Chauny, a son named Albert was born in 1925 but died of pneumonia at the age of 8 months. The Uderzos decided to name their next son in honor of the late brother. The name "Albert", that of the deceased brother, became the Italian "Alberto" because the registrar misunderstood Silvio Uderzo's heavy Italian accent. The name "Aleandro" is in honor of Uderzo's paternal grandfather. Uderzo was born on the morning of 25 April 1927 around 07:00. At this point, he was an Italian citizen rather than a French one. Uderzo was born with six fingers on each hand. The additional fingers were surgically removed early in childhood as a precaution, as the infant Uderzo would sometimes violently pull on them when enraged or annoyed.