Nine Culliford

Born Janine Devroye on 29 March 1930 in Belgium, Nine Culliford spent decades as a vital behind-the-scenes contributor to some of the most beloved Franco-Belgian comics of the twentieth century. She died on 5 July 2016.

Her entry into the medium came through her marriage to cartoonist Pierre Culliford, who worked under the pen name Peyo, and she became his trusted colourist, lending her skills to his illustrations throughout their life together until his death in 1992. That partnership placed her at the heart of Peyo's most celebrated creations, including *Les Schtroumpfs* (known internationally as The Smurfs) and the adventure series *Johan et Pirlouit*. Over a career spanning the mid-1950s onward, she accumulated credits across more than 180 issues, her work appearing in titles such as *Spirou*, *Collection Les Schtroumpfs*, and the German-language editions *Die Schlümpfe* and *Johann und Pfiffikus*.

Colourists in the classic Belgian studio tradition frequently worked in close proximity to the primary cartoonist, and Nine's long collaboration with Peyo exemplifies how integral that role was to the finished page. Her careful, consistent palette helped define the visual identity of the Schtroumpfs across generations of readers. Though she worked largely without public recognition during the peak years of the strips, her contributions have since been more formally acknowledged through her individual credits in published collections.