Cohl Emile Courtet

Cohl Emile Courtet (Louis-Olivier-Albert Esnault) was born in Paris on January 4, 1857. Between the ages of eighteen and fifty, he was a Montmartre faithful to the hill. He practiced several professions and was busy in various activities. He only began to be interested in cinema around 1907. This year marked a turning point in his life and career. One of his activities was in caricatures. He Was also interested in cartooning, theater, journalism, photography and painting, following his father-in-law HC Delpy.
Émile’s father was often busy, and lived with his ailing mother until her death in 1863. In 1864, at the age of 7, he was enrolled at the Ecole professionnelle de Pantin, a boarding school known as the Institute Vaudron after its founder. There his artistic talents were discovered and encouraged. The next year, a cold kept him confined in his father's apartment, where he began stamp collecting, a hobby that would become his sole source of income several times in his life.
Political caricature had begun in France during the Second Empire, but had been suppressed by Napoleon III. During the free-for-all weeks of the Commune (all 11 of them), the caricaturists were free to post broadsheets on the streets for all to see. The center of this activity was the Rue du Croissant, only blocks from Ecole Turgot.
Émile drew caricatures, enlisted in the Cherbourg regiment, and drew some more. His father placed him with a maritime insurance broker. Émile left the broker, got a much poorer-paying job with a philatelist and declared his preference for drawing, the Bohemian lifestyle, and if necessary, going hungry.
Cohl married on 12 November 1881; his wife later left him for an author.
His caricatures and satiric news reporting made him the major contributor to "La Nouvelle Lune" and eventually became acting editor. He became editor in chief in November 1883.
He died 20 January 1938 and is today known as a French caricaturist of the Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, and is referred to as "The Father of the Animated Cartoon".