Presidential Library marks anniversary of cartoonist Boris Yefimov

In 2025, the 125th anniversary of the birth of Boris Yefimovich Yefimov will be celebrated. He was a prominent figure in Soviet and Russian political satire. Born on September 28, 1900, Boris Yefimov lived to the ripe old age of 108 and witnessed some of the most significant events in European and Russian history. His works, which are a significant part of the global cartoon heritage, include a series of anti-war and anti-fascist pieces.

Yefimov began his career as a cartoonist in 1916, creating his first work for Mikhail Rodzianko, the Chairman of the State Duma. Throughout his life, he worked with various publications, including Pravda, Izvestia, Trud, and the Krokodil magazine. At the age of 24, he published his first collection of cartoons.

Efimov's pencil was known for its sharpness and wickedness. Over the years, Daladier, Chamberlain, Hitler, Mussolini, Goering, Goebbels, Churchill, and Truman, among others, became the villains of his political cartoons. Yefimov could ridicule and provoke, finding the enemy's weak spots and hitting them with precision.

He quickly responded to all events happening in the country and world. Through his drawings, Yefimov allowed us to study the domestic political landscape, international affairs, and the roles and significance of important figures of the time.

From the first days of the Nazi regime in Germany in 1933, the Soviet Union started to limit economic and military cooperation with the Nazis and began a political and ideological fight against fascism. Soviet cartoonists played a significant role in this struggle. Their main weapon was laughter, which helped them deconstruct Nazism by turning the terrible, vast and dangerous into something pathetic, despicable and insignificant.

In 1937, the book Fascism is the Enemy of Nations, with political drawings by Boris Yefimov, was published. One of the sections of the book, titled Fascism Is Arbitrariness, features an image of Hitler falling asleep while dreaming of an executioner's axe with the swastika. Below the image, there is a quote from Hitler's speech: The time will come when heads will roll from your shoulders!

The album concludes with an image of German communists before whom the accused Nazis bow their heads. Prophetic words appear at the end of the album: There will be more trials in Berlin!

This publication is availble in the electronic collection of the Presidential Library.

After the outbreak of World War II, Boris Efimovich joined the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda and, together with his fellow cartoonists, created the editorial workshop for military-defense posters called OKNA of TASS. He received many letters from soldiers and officers on the front, who not only thanked him for his support but also sent their own signatures for his works and suggested subjects for future drawings. Hitler hated Boris Efimovich and declared him his personal enemy, adding him to a list of people who were to be destroyed after Moscow's capture. However, history had other plans. Boris Efimovich was present at the Nuremberg Trials, where Nazi war criminals and leaders were brought to justice. In the courtroom, he depicted Nazi executioners - those who had planned to destroy him and his country.

The Presidential Library's collection includes a book of drawings by the artist, For Lasting Peace, Against Warmongers, published in 1950. The preface to this publication contains a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR regarding the North Atlantic Treaty: "The ruling circles of the United States, Great Britain, and France, in pursuing a policy of aggression and preparation for a new war, currently strive to isolate the USSR everywhere, despite the fact that this policy is in direct violation of their obligations..."

Boris Efimov had a significant impact on the art of Russian graphic design, journalism, and book publishing. His cartoons are presented in private collections and the collections of some of the world's most prominent museums.

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II, a virtual tour of the exhibition The Artist Against the Fuhrer: Fascism in Boris Yefimov's Cartoons is available on the Presidential Library's portal.

Additionally, the multimedia lesson "Satire in Service of Victory: Caricature During the Great Patriotic War" provides information about cartoonists like Boris Efimovich Efimov.