Jon Kudelka, much-loved Australian political cartoonist, dies aged 53

Jon Kudelka, the Australian political cartoonist, has died at the age of 53. His wife, Margaret Kudelka, announced the news in a statement on Monday: “We are sad to tell you that our beloved, brilliant Jon Kudelka died peacefully in South Hobart on Sunday afternoon, surrounded by his family and friends.” Kudelka’s work appeared regularly in the Saturday Paper and the Hobart Mercury, where he began as a cartoonist in 1993.

Born in Burnie on the north coast of Tasmania in 1972, he sold his first cartoon at the age of nine and went on to draw political cartoons for more than 30 years, some 10,000 of which were published. He won Walkley awards for best cartoon in 2008 and 2018, as well as Kennedy, Stanley and News awards, and was the Museum of Australian Democracy’s political cartoonist of the year in 2010 and 2019.

Australia, South Hobart, Tasmania

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