Portuguese artist. He is considered one of the most important cultural figures of Portugal in the late 19th century. His work is vast and dispersed in dozens of books and publications. As well as a precursor of the artistic poster in Portugal, Bordalo Pinheiro was a designer, watercolorist, illustrator, decorator, political and social caricaturist, journalist, ceramist and teacher. His name is closely linked to the Portuguese caricature. He is the author of the popular cartoon character "Zé Povinho", a Portuguese everyman portrayed as a poor peasant, which has become an unofficial symbol of the Portuguese people. In 1860, he enrolled at the Royal Conservatory of Lisbon and later enrolled successively at the Academy of Fine Arts (civil architecture design, ancient drawing and live model), at the Higher Course of Letters and at the School of Dramatic Art, before dropping out. He made his debut at the Garrett Theatre although he never made a career out of acting. A theatre lover, he was a regular spectator of plays performed in the capital and he assiduously frequented the artists' dressing rooms, participated in gatherings made up of critics, playwrights and actors. He transposed, week by week, what he saw and felt, graphically, in the newspapers he edited. In 1863, his father arranged a place for him in the Chamber of Peers, where he ended up discovering his true vocation, motivated by political intrigues behind the scenes. He started publishing illustrations and political caricatures in humoristic magazines such as "A Berlinda" and "O Calcanhar de Aquiles" (the first satirical cartoon pamphlet in Portugal), frequently demonstrating a sarcastic humour with a political or social message. In 1875, he travelled to Brazil to work as an illustrator and cartoonist for the publication "Mosquito" (and later, another publication called "O Besouro"), which was also employing the Italian/Brazilian illustrator Angelo Agostini, until then the unrivaled cartooning authority of Brazil. Bordalo Pinheiro eventually became editor of many other periodicals of humorous, political and social critic nature. "O António Maria" in its two series (1879-1885 and 1891-1898), covering thirteen years of journalistic activity, constitutes his reference publication. His fame as a caricaturist led the "Illustrated London News" to become one of his collaborators. He married Elvira Ferreira de Almeida in 1866 and they had three children. In 1881, he published the illustrated reportage "No Lazareto de Lisboa" ("In The Lazaretto of Lisbon") that included personal thoughts and anecdotes (not unlike a Joe Sacco or Guy Delisle chronicle), and is considered an early example of autobiographical comics. In 1885, he founded a ceramics factory in Caldas da Rainha, where he created many of the pottery designs for which this city is known. Bordalo Pinheiro was responsible for the technical and artistic aspects of the factory. He developed pieces of great technical, artistic and creative quality, painted tiles (azulejos), panels, pots, table centerpieces, vase busts, fountain basins, pitchers, plates, perfume bottles, vases, gigantic animals, etc., which in his hands quickly acquired an original character. The factory is still in business today. The Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro Museum in Lisbon is dedicated to his life and work.