'Samir'.
Bernie Aalmeon was a mid-20th century French-Jewish cartoonist and comic artist, who lived and worked in Egypt. He is best remembered as co-founder of the Egyptian comic magazine Samir (سمير) and creator of the gag comic of the same name, 'Samir' (1956). This cartoonist should not be confused with the 1980s indie comic artist Bernie (Bernard Delforge).
Early life and career
Not much information is available about the person behind the pen name "Bernie". Arab resources mention his full name as Bernie Aalmeon (in Arabic: عالميون برني), while the French 2004 'Dico Solo' reference guide calls him Bernard Bernard. The artist was born in 1918 in Fresnes-le-Château, Val-de-Marne, into a French-Jewish family. Somewhere around 1940, he moved to Egypt, where, as an agricultural engineer, he explored the country's natural resources. He discovered deposits of marble, wolfram and sulfur, became immensely rich, but lost his fortune fourteen years later with the Suez Crisis (1956).
'Samir'.
Cartoonist in Egypt
While in Egypt, Aalmeon simultaneously began a career as a cartoonist. During the 1940s, he published his first work in Egyptian weeklies like Al Mussawar, Al Ithnain, Al Kawakeb and Al Hilal. In April 1956, Bernie was co-founder of the monthly Egyptian comic weekly Samir (سمير), which was launched in Caïro by the government-owned publishing company Dar Al-Hilal. Inspired by the Belgian magazine Tintin, which aimed at an audience of "7 to 77 years old", Samir said in its tagline to have people from "8 to 88 years old" as a target demographic. The magazine published translations of European and American comics, as well as domestic comics by Middle-Eastern artists such as Aalmeon and Haroon (Herant). Aalmeon created the magazine's mascot, a boy called Samir, who was featured in gag comics.
However, Aalmeon was forced to leave Egypt later that year, when President Gamal Abdel-Nasser closed the Suez channel, causing an economic crisis in the West. The Suez crisis and the military conflict that happened as a result of it nevertheless had no consequences for Samir magazine, which kept appearing and became one of the most popular Egyptian comic magazines of the 1950s and 1960s, alongside Dunia al-Ahdath. The 'Samir' comic was continued by other artists, among which Ahmed Hijazi and Bahiga Thomassian.
Press cartoonist in France
By 1957, Bernie was back in France, where he resumed his graphic career, first as an editorial, then as a gag cartoonist. Between 1957 and his retirement in the 1980s, his cartoons ran in La Presse, Le Hérisson (1957), Détective, Radar (1957-1958 ), Ici Paris (1957-1961), Aux Écoutes (1957-1968), Combat (1958), Lectures Pour Tous (1958-1959), Le Pèlerin (1958-1971, 1976-1986), Bayard, La Brosse à Dents, Paris-Journal (1959), Almanach Vermot (1959-1968, 1974-1975, 1986-1987), Fou-Rire (1959-1971), Le Rire (1960-1971), Pilote (1960), Rallye Jeunesse (1961), Minute (1962), Noir et Blanc (1964-1970), Franc Rire! (1967-1972, 1980), Blagues (1980), France Dimanche (1981-1982), Éclats de Rire (1983), France-Soir, Paris-Presse-L Intran, Jours de France and Paris Jour.
Bernie Aalmeon, or Bernard Bernard, died in Montpellier in 1987.
Bernie cartoon appearing in Pilote #17, 18 February 1960.