Comics for the magazine Samir.
Bahiga Thomassian, also known as simply Bahiga or Bhiga, is an Egyptian comic artist of Armenian origin. In the late 1950s, she drew the comic series 'Mazloum' and 'Samir wa TahTah' for the Egyptian children's magazine Samir. In 1960, Bhiga established her own magazine Bisat al rih in Lebanon. From 1965 on, she was active in the USA as an advertising artist, caricaturist and oil painter. At the start of her career, Bhiga was particularly notable as one of the rare female comic artists/illustrators in the Middle East.
Early life and career
Bahiga Thomassian (also written as "Jija Tomasyan") was born in 1942 in Cairo and studied at the Italian Academy of Art. As early as 1957, she worked at Egyptian Great Publishing and Dar El Hilal. At age 15, she was the youngest artist in the comics weekly Samir. Her best-known character for this title was 'Mazloum', a waiter who constantly has to endure the antics of the naughty children in his master's house. She also took over the magazine's title feature 'Samir wa TahTah', originally created by Bernie Aalmeon, and sent the characters on a folkloric trip around the world, visiting China, Mexico and Venice, among other places. Bhiga often featured the children on her cover illustrations, usually dressing them in different folkloric costumes. All in all, Bahiga has illustrated nearly 150 covers for Samir magazine.
Cover illustrations for Samir.
Career in Lebanon
In 1960, Bahiga Thomassian moved to Lebanon, where she drew for her own children's magazine Bissat El-Reeh ("Flying Carpet"), published by publisher Zuhair Baalbaki. Printed in offset, in full color, Bissat El-Reeh transformed the Arabic comic book genre from a modest sub-category of entertainment publications into a profitable industry. Bissat El-Reeh ceased publication in 1965, shortly after Bahiga emigrated to the USA. Among the magazine's other artists were Mahmoud Kaheel and Tareq Assali. Attempts to revive the magazine in 1968 and in 1970 were short-lived. A more successful attempt was done in 1978, which lasted until the war in Lebanon killed it off again in the mid-1980s. In Lebanon, Bahiga also made comics and cartoons for the newspaper Al-Anwar of publisher Dar El Sayyad, contributing especially to its children's supplement.
Career in the USA
In 1965, Bahiga Thomassian was invited by the American embassy to meet members of huge newspaper concerns in Washington D.C., New York City and Los Angeles. She stayed in California and was active as an advertising artist for Walt Disney, Hanna-Barbera and Universal Studios for more than 22 years. As a gifted caricaturist and oil painter, she frequently made portraits of famous politicians and Hollywood celebrities. Her work has often been exhibited. Since 1987, she has been a member of the Westlake Athletic Club in California.
Secondary literature
In 2009, the Beirut-born comic collector and historian Henry Matthews self-published a book about Bahiga's legendary Bissat El-Reeh magazine, 'History of the Bissat El-Reeh Magazine (1960-1970)'.
Bhiga, mid-1960s. The politicians caricatured on the page she's holding are German chancellor Ludwig Erhard and Egyptian head of state Gamal Abdel Nasser.