Peter de Wit

When he reached the age of fourteen, Peter de Wit decided he wanted to become a cartoonist and started out by making the comics magazine Stripofiel together with his friend Gerard Aartsen. He made his debut at age 17 with the strip 'Jochem' in the free magazine De Kennemer. Peter went to study Finnish languages, but eventually cancelled his studies to become a professional comics artist.

He joined Eppo in 1979, and continued to draw for this magazine and its subsequent magazines Sjors en Sjimmie Stripblad, Sjosji and Striparazzi until the late 1990s. He drew the funny cowboy strips 'Stampede', and later 'De Cowboys' and 'Kleine Hihahoeha'. With writer Ruud Straatman, he created 'De Familie Fortuin', a comic about a dysfunctional family, in 1985.

De Wit also produced the editorial strips for several years. In addition, De Wit drew 'Vader en Dochter' in Mikro-gids, 'Broer en Zus' for Okki, 'Kitty en Koen' in Taptoe and 'Het Mooiste Vak ter Wereld', a comic about a teacher in French languages in a high school.

He began a longtime collaboration with Hanco Kolk in the mid-1980s. Together, they created 'Gilles de Geus' ('Bryant the Brigand'), a series often referred to as the Dutch 'Astérix'. They also created the photo comic 'Mannetje & Mannetje', with themselves in the starring roles. This strip was also adapted in a TV series for VPRO television. In addition, Kolk and De Wit hosted a comics course for the educational broadcasting company Teleac. De Wit and Kolk eventually founded the publishing house De Plaatjesmakers.

De Wit's most famous strip, 'Sigmund', a daily comic about a psychiatrist who watches the world around him and who delivers the appropriate cynical comments, has been published in the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant since 1994. In 1999, de Wit won the Stripschapsprijs, the prestigious Dutch comic award. The last album of Bryant the Brigand, 'The Seven Provinces', was also published in English.

Peter de Wit's latest creation, once again produced in collaboration with Hanco Kolk, is the daily newspaper strip 'S1NGLE', which appears in Het Parool.

In March and April 2002, there was an exposition of the work of Peter de Wit in Galerie Lambiek. In 2004, a special album was released in the Strip Comic Week, celebrating Peter de Wit's 25 year career in comics. In 2005, he made the 'Burka' comic strip series for De Volkskrant.