Issue date: 30 May, 2012
Cartoonist, writer, journalist and academician, Antonio Mingote, was also an Honorary Postman of the Spanish post and is the character depicted in this stamp which pays tribute to this great master of humour.
Angel Antonio Mingote Barrachina was born in Sitges (Barcelona), in 1919, and died in Madrid in 2012. He spent his childhood between Daroca, Calatayud and Teruel. He was only 17 when he enlisted in the army during the Civil War and when the war came to an end, he studied two years of philosophy and language at the University of Zaragoza and from there joined the Infantry Academy of Guadalajara.
In 1944 he moved to Madrid and two years later began his career as cartoonist in La Codorniz, guided by his friend and editor of the magazine Alvaro de Laiglesia. In this weekly publication he gave evidence, through his humorous cartoons, of the social reality of the time whilst ridiculing the prevailing pretentiousness and rancidity. In 1948 he published his first novel, Las Palmeras de Cartón. He was fond of friendly gatherings in cafes and spent long hours talking with friends whilst thinking and drawing on a piece of paper.
In 1953 he joined the ABC newspaper, where he worked until his death, and published daily cartoons featuring scenes, characters and meaning-laden messages in which Mingote dared all strata of society and focused sharply on the reality of everyday life. He did over 24,000 drawings for this newspaper.
In 1955 he began to run the humorous magazine Don José, in which innovative writers and well known artists of today published their works. In 1974 he wrote the musical El Oso y el Madroño and the following year he did the television series Ese señor de negro. Years passed and Mingote never stopped working; writing screenplays, publishing a new novel, working on radio, painting murals etc ... In 1987 he was elected member of the Royal Spanish Academy and received many awards for his work. In 2011, King Juan Carlos I awarded him the title of Marqués de Daroca.
In 1998, at the request of Correos (Spanish Post), he designed a stamp series called Correspondencia Epistolar Escolar made up of 24 stamps featuring scenes from Don Quixote de la Mancha. For this reason, that same year he was appointed Honorary Postman of Spain.
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