Busch, Wilhelm

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Wilhelm Busch, 1832–1908, German cartoonist, painter, and poet. After studying at the academies of Antwerp, Düsseldorf, and Munich, he joined the staff of the Fliegende Blätter, to which he contributed highly popular humorous drawings from 1859 to 1871. His humorous, illustrated poems for children, such as Max and Moritz (1865; tr. by Christopher Morley, 1932), are simply drawn, yet highly spirited. Busch's delightful series of wordless pictures were highly influential in the development of the comic strip.