A great Argentine draughtsman, creator of Mafalda and other fine drawings that for several decades have been charming the world with a critical, intelligent and topical way of making humour. 

Quino, or Joaquín Salvador Lavado, was born on 17 July 1932 in the city of Mendoza (Argentina). He got the nickname since he was a kid, to tell him apart from his uncle Joaquín Tejón, a painter and advertising draughtsman, who influenced Quino in discovering his vocation at the age of 3. In the 40's, he lost his parents. After finishing his primary studies he decided to enroll in the Fine Arts School of Mendoza, which he would abandon years later to devote himself to drawing cartoons and humour.

In 1954, he settled precariously in Buenos Aires and started to visit offices of every newspaper and magazine looking for a job. Esto Es magazine published his first page of graphic humour. Since then and until today his humoristic drawings are being published without interruption in countless newspapers and magazines of Latin America and Europe.

In 1960 he married Alicia Colombo. He did not have any children. The honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro was his first international trip.

In 1963 he released his first humour book, Mundo Quino, a recompilation of mute graphic humour drawings. In 1964 Mafalda appeared for the first time and since then several books have been released in Argentina and abroad. He travelled to many countries to show his work and was awarded several prizes of international level, such as Draughtsman of the Year, in 1982. Currently, he publishes new drawings every Sunday in the magazine of Clarín newspaper.

Gastronomy
Medicine
Bureaucracy
Power
Professionalism
Politics
Home Life
Modern Life

It is Quino's masterpiece. Through the character of a little and - apparently - innocent girl, the cartoonist thinks about politics, economy and our society in general, adding always a humouristic touch. Mafalda has been translated up to 10 languages and exported to several countries. She has been also the advertising girl of UNICEF campaigns and the face of Argentine postcards and stamps.

Although the first books were released in the 60's, in Buenos Aires they can be bought as easily as it is to buy a newspaper, what proves that the pleasure of reading Mafalda is always topical.