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Michael Leunig (2 June 1945 – 19 December 2024), typically referred to by his pen name Leunig, was an Australian cartoonist, poet and artist. He was best known for his work for Melbourne's The Age, and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Leunig's works include The Curly Pyjama Letters, the cartoon books The Essential Leunig, The Wayward Leunig, The Stick, Goatperson, Short Notes from the Long History of Happiness and Curly Verse as well as The Lot, a compilation of his "Curly World" newspaper columns. Leunig also wrote several books of prayers, including A Common Prayer, The Prayer Tree and When I Talk To You.
Leunig was declared an Australian Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1999.
After working as a labourer in an abattoir, Leunig enrolled at the Swinburne Film and Television School, where he was at first interested in making documentaries.
Leunig was conscripted in the Vietnam War call-up, but he registered as a conscientious objector; he was rejected on health grounds when it was revealed that he was deaf in one ear.
The main outlet for Leunig's work was the daily Fairfax Media newspapers, Melbourne's The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation also provided airtime to Leunig to discuss his views on a range of political and philosophical issues. "Michael Leunig at the ABC" . Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Leunig continued to contribute cartoons for the Saturday edition of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald until he was sacked in August 2024, along with a number of other staff, as a cost-cutting measure.
Leunig frequently satirised concepts such as Americanisation, greed, consumerism, and , in a personal proclamation against the "war on terror". Readers and critics took special note of his parodies of political matters, especially those concerning former Australian prime minister John Howard and former American president George W. Bush. These earned Leunig a description as a "political cartoonist", although only some of his works were political in nature or reference. His work also frequently explored spiritual, religious and moral themes.
From a very early stage in his career, Leunig often included his own handwritten poetry within his cartoons; subsequently he also published books of poetry. He was very open about his themes in interviews about his work.
Leunig opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, commenting that "if a cartoonist is representing the government line on Iraq, they're nothing better than a propagandist".
In 2006, Fairfax Media partially censored a Leunig cartoon criticising the then prime minister, John Howard; the cartoon was published in Victoria but not in New South Wales.
Leunig stated his opposition to the Israeli government. Three of his cartoons between 2004 and 2006 drew letters of protest nationally and internationally. He partially defined his position in 2006, saying that the Israeli government had "gravely mishandled" the situation in Palestine, and "it bothers me deeply. It is my right to express it."
A supposed Leunig cartoon came to international attention after it was entered in an Iranian competition conceived by the newspaper Hamshahri as retaliation for the Muhammad cartoons controversy. Leunig denied he had submitted the cartoon, and demanded that it be withdrawn, which it was. It later emerged that the cartoon had been submitted as a prank by Richard Cooke, a contributor to the Australian comedic team The Chaser.
In November 2018, Leunig's 30-year association with the Melbourne Comedy Festival came to an end, after artists expressed concerns about being associated with Leunig's anti-vaccination views and his opposition to the marriage equality plebiscite. Leunig had designed the logo for the festival each year since 1988.
In September 2021, Leunig's cartoon contributions for the editorial page in the Monday edition of The Age were ended following the paper's rejection for publication of a cartoon he had drawn in response to COVID-19 vaccination requirements in Australia.Graham, Ben (25 October 2021). "Cartoonist Michael Leunig axed from prime spot at The Age over anti-Dan Andrews image". news.com.au. The cartoon compared resistance to vaccine requirements to the Tank Man in Tiananmen Square.
In 1999, Leunig was declared an National Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia. National Living Treasures – Current List, Deceased, Formerly Listed. National Trust of Australia. 22 August 2014.
In 2006, Australian musician Gyan Evans released the album Billy the Rabbit, based on the poetry of Leunig. Gyan and Leunig launched the album at the Melbourne Writers Festival, with Leunig illustrating during Gyan's singing. They also performed together at the Byron Writers Festival and the Sydney Opera House.
Leunig performed at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, wearing a duck costume. That same year, for his work on Southern Star, Leunig was co-recipient of the 2006 APRA Music Award together with Christopher Willcock.
In 2009, Leunig created an iGoogle theme.
In 2016, Metrosideros leunigii, the oldest described fossil species of the flowering plant genus Metrosideros, was named after Leunig."
In 2020, Leunig was the winner of the Ernie Awards for his cartoon of mothers "being too busy on Instagram".
Several Leunig poems have been set to music by composers including Paul Stanhope, and, for the Song Company, the composers Alice Chance, Drew Crawford, James Wade, Kate Moore, Kate Neal, Katy Abbott, Lachlan Skipworth, Lyle Chan, Mark Viggiani, Robert Davidson and Ruth McCall.
A documentary film about Leunig's life by Kasimir Burgess, The Leunig Fragments, was released in 2020 and revealed various difficulties that he had experienced with family relationships. The Leunig Fragments on ABC iview. He did not attend his parents' funerals The Leunig Fragments review. The Guardian. 13 February 2020. and was not in regular contact with his siblings.
Leunig's sister, Mary Leunig, is also an accomplished cartoonist. In December 2019, she accused Leunig of sexually abusing her during childhood in a series of cartoons posted to her Facebook account.
Leunig had a studio in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote and a country property in north-east Victoria.
Leunig died in Melbourne, in the early hours of 19 December 2024, at the age of 79.
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