Rius

Eduardo Humberto del Río García, universally known as Rius, was born on June 20, 1934, in Zamora, Michoacán, Mexico, and died on August 8, 2017. He is best remembered as a prolific political cartoonist and writer whose work blended humor with sharp left-wing critique. After secondary school, he worked odd jobs—messenger, cashier, soap salesman, and funeral home phone operator—before a doodle caught a mourner’s eye, leading to a job at the humor magazine *Ja Ja*. Adopting the pen name Rius, he began cartooning in the 1960s, creating the celebrated comic strips *Los Supermachos* and *Los agachados*, which satirized the Mexican government. His signature style combined hand-drawn illustrations and handwritten text, making complex topics accessible through simplicity and wit. Rius authored over a hundred books, covering politics, vegetarianism, religion, and more. His *Marx for Beginners* (1972) became an international bestseller, launching the *For Beginners* series. He also co-created the political humor magazines *El Chahuistle* and *El Chamuco* in the 1990s. A fierce activist, he criticized U.S. policy, the Catholic Church, and neoliberal Mexican doctrines while sympathizing with the Cuban revolution and Soviet bloc. His work remains a touchstone in Mexican popular culture for its intellectual sharpness and enduring humor.