From his beginnings as a political cartoonist for the then-Melbourne Age in 1969 to his most recent cartoon in The Age this year, Leunig had a prolific career and was honored as a living treasure by the National Trust during the 1990s.
In an Instagram post announcing his passing, Leunig’s studio expressed, “The pen has run dry, its ink no longer flowing — yet Mr Curly and his ducks will remain etched in our hearts, cherished and eternal.”
“Michael Leunig passed away peacefully today, in the early hours of December 19, 2024.Â
His final days were spent surrounded by his children, loved ones, and sunflowers, with the comforting presence of his beloved musical companions Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Age editor Patrick Elligett said Leunig was a “master of his craft and a near-permanent fixture on the fridge doors and dining tables of the nation”.
“His passing will be mourned by millions, and felt acutely by readers of The Age, who for 55 years had the privilege of enjoying his work and wit,” Elligett said, in a statement published by the paper.
“We are thinking of his friends and family at this difficult time. Farewell, Michael.”
Leunig, the son of a slaughterman, was born in 1945 in East Melbourne and worked as a factory labourer and meat worker before starting life as a cartoonist.
Leunig worked at The Age, part of the same Nine media group as this website, until earlier this year, when his contract was not renewed in what the cartoonist called a “throat-cutting exercise”.
Through Leunig’s work, we have contemplated life’s beautiful and occasionally baffling moments: Mr Curly arriving home to his curly-headed family; a simple soul dreaming of floating coloured petals; and a father and son watching the sun set on TV, oblivious to the real thing happening outside their window,” Age Spectrum editor Lindy Percival wrote at the time.
“All the while, his angels have looked on – often in sorrow, sometimes in anger, but always with love.”
