caricaturist and illustrator whose line drawing was notable for its crisp, forceful simplicity. The name Caran d'Ache transliterates the Russian word for pencil.

He was educated in Moscow but settled in Paris, where he gained great popularity as a contributor to several periodicals. He was an early exponent of the episodic strip cartoon technique and was also a well-known illustrator. The grandson of a Napoleonic officer, he spent five years in the French army and often favoured military subjects in his illustrations. Essentially self-taught, he was particularly influenced by the contemporary German caricaturists Wilhelm Busch and Adolf Oberländer.