Semenov, Ivan Maksimovich

Born Aug. 17 (30), 1906, in Rostov-on-Don. Soviet graphic artist. People’s Artist of the USSR (1974). Member of the CPSU from 1941.

Semenov studied at the Rostov Art Technicum from 1926 to 1928. An outstanding Soviet caricaturist, he specializes in india-ink drawings combined with watercolor. His works mainly satirize everyday life. Semenov has been a contributor to the journal Krokodil (Crocodile) since 1935. He is also a children’s cartoonist, and since 1957 has been editor in chief of the journal Veselye kartinki (Merry Pictures). Examples of his work as a book illustrator include the india-ink drawings in Three Men in a Boat by J. K. Jerome (1956). Semenov has received two orders and several medals.