Lebanese political art suffered a severe blow with the death of Lebanon’s leading caricaturist, Pierre Sadek, on Wednesday morning, April 24, following a long struggle with cancer at the age of 75.

Sadek was in love with freedom, as a condition for artistic creativity. He clung to it in all the institutions for which he worked. Freedom is perhaps the most important thing that will remain of his memory. Among his journalist friends, Sadek was known for his spirit of constructive criticism and wry humor, which helped him build bridges of understanding and affection.

Many times during the modern history of Lebanon, officials, politicians and prominent pundits considered Sadek’s stances, which he expressed through drawing, to be a reflection of local public opinion.

Sadek was rightist, advocating the traditional idea of Lebanon, which the Lebanese Christians — the people of the countryside in particular — have inherited. He was from the city of Zahle in the Bekaa Valley, but lived most of his life in Beirut and the nearby mountains of Hazmiyeh and Broumana.