Friday, October 18, 2019

Rusins Kaufmanis 1925-2019

From The Ottawa Citizen.

Rusins, The Ottawa Citizen, November 10, 1965

Rusins Kaufmanis (Rusins), political cartoonist for the Ottawa Citizen from 1963 to 1989, passed away September 20, 2019 in Victoria, BC.

Born in Riga, Latvia on March 27, 1925, he came to Canada with his father in 1947. 

He was hired by Ontario Hydro as a labourer but was soon working for them as an illustrator. This lasted for ten years. 

In the early 60’s he did occasional editorial cartoons for the Globe & Mail when James Reidford was on holidays. 

His work was noticed by the editors of the Citizen [Ottawa] and he was hired as their editorial page cartoonist in 1963.

From The Art of Political Cartooning in Canada / 1980

After retirement, he remained interested in politics, people, and especially humour to the very end. 

In his last week, when initially told by a doctor that they would be able to perform surgery on his broken hip, he looked up from his hospital bed with a wide-eyed and puzzled look and asked, "Are you sure that is a good use of taxpayers' money?".

A believer that all good things must come to an end, he passed away of his own wishes at the Royal Jubilee Hospital on September 20.

UPDATE

"Obituary: Former Citizen editorial cartoonist specialized in gentle lampoons" in The Ottawa Citizen

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