MEGASTARS

Toughan & Toughanism: 
The exceptional story of a fighter for human virtue, equity and empowerment

By Dr. Talaat I. Farag & Adel Iskandar

 

 

Ahmed S. Toughan was born in the Al-Minya governate of Egypt on December 20, 1926.  His father a police officer, and his mother a secondary school teacher, Toughan was raised in the Cairo suburb, close to the pyramids of Giza and the sphinx. Growing up in the shadow of such colossal historical wonders, he was inspired from an early age by the symbolic meaning of the sphinx. A lion's body, representing power and majesty, with the head of a pharaoh representing wisdom. Since the time of this realization, Toughan has been convinced that the two elements must co-exist. Hence, power must employ wisdom in all its applications from the individual level to that of the nation-state and the global level. 

Another milestone in Toughan's life was his childhood meeting with Mahmood Al-Saadany, who soon became a renowned political writer at the weeklies Akhbar El-Yom and Rose El-Youssef. Their interest in public affairs began early in their youth, when they started reading and analyzing together one book every week. Commencing in the early 1940's, they met in a Giza cafe to discuss the weekly reading assignments, gatherings that soon attracted a large number of educated intellectuals, one of whom would become the President Anwar Sadat in 1970. By 1946, Toughan began his career as a journalist and cartoonist in many of the Egyptian newspapers, journals and magazines. Before long, the young man's unique style attracted both readers and publishers. His earliest and most publicized works came during his period at Rose Al-Youssef, the famous political weekly magazine. In 1953, following the Free Officers revolution that brought President Nasser to power, Toughan at age 27 marked his contribution by being one of the founders of Al-Jomhoriya one of the top three national daily newspapers (with Al-Ahram & Al-Akhbar). In the 1980's, Toughan created the weekly cartoon magazine Caricature, along with fellow artist Mostapha Hussein. His lifetime accomplishments have proved that while being a highly knowledgeable and motivated activist, he is not degreed in political science, instead he is a self-learned and self-taught member of a vibrant public and popular movement that seeks equity. 

Throughout his illustrious career, Toughan has published more than 20,000 cartoons in daily newspapers and 14 illustrated books since 1946, proving in every occasion to speak as the people's voice. His most recent book, The Caricature of Toughan (Volume 2) published in 1998 featured 220 of his most recent commended and celebrated cartoons. Dr. Osama El-Baz the distinguished political figure in Egypt, who wrote the preface acknowledged Toughan as a gifted cartoonist who is among the pioneers of the modern art of caricature. Like his ancestors whose immensely expressive art decorated the walls of the ancient Egyptian temples, El-Baz believes that Toughan has inherited these very talents. El-Baz added: 

"His prolific contribution and creativity and unique productivity provides remedies for the international issues and tribulations that face the world. Such include the New World Order, the fall of the Soviet Union, the wars in Chechnya, Bosnia, and Afghanistan, the problems of refugees, and the universal task of social justice and human rights, etc. His life is one that is rich with concern and undivided commitment to the well-being of humankind. His art expresses a deeply ingrained artistic motivation and serious concern for the issues that underlie it." 

The Caricature of Toughan

The book includes images and illustrations discussing how peace is now in a dilemma where there are conflicts and violence everywhere between neighbors, partners and compatriots. He also shows human rights issues and how they are neglected in much of the Third world. This is represented by the cartoon on the book cover which shows the peoples of the Third world imprisoned by poverty, ignorance and disease, in addition to being burdened by foreign debt, corruption, exploitation of national resources and military dictatorship. This view of systematic marginalization is described by a cartoon that shows animals possessing more freedoms and rights than human beings. Toughan also documents and shows the mounting frustration that some third world peoples face while living under continuous tribulation. In reviewing analyzing Toughan's art, one may be quick to assume that there are inherent contradictions in his political standpoints. However, any understanding of the artist and activist will yield the realization that his position depends on the time of the cartoon's composition. This is evident in his work on the Gulf crisis where he condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August of 1990. Later on, he condemns the UN economic sanctions on Iraq for their inhumane and burdensome consequences on the country's population. He also argues through his cartoons for a more collaborative and negotiated cooperation between the United Nations and the United States at the onset of the new millennium. Another position that Toughan has expressed frequently and clearly in many of his cartoons emphasizes that peace in the Middle East cannot be attained without the recognition of Palestinian rights in East Jerusalem and their treatment as partners in land, not as second class citizens. 

Father to two sons (Waleed and Bassam), a journalist and a computer scientist, Toughan has been recognized on numerous occasions for his accomplishments. A fellow of the European Cartoonists Association, he was presented with the coveted Award of Human Rights for one of his most recognized works (Figure 5). He also recently received the prestigious Award of Science and Art of the First Order which was presented to him by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and the Mostapha and Ali Amin Award for Best Cartoonist in the Arab World. 

His work has been presented at numerous exhibits worldwide. One of the highlights of his career and an unforgettable moment was an exhibition he held in China which attracted close to two million viewers.

Toughanism: A philosophy or ideology?

Furthermore, his ingenious talent and honest vision has helped create and shape public opinion during his 54 years of committed service to the art of caricature. Able to, with fine lines and brush strokes to reach the innermost areas of his artistic admirers, Toughan has perfected the skill of representation. The duty Toughan felt towards his readers was to inform them of the political, social, economic and cultural climate at the local, regional and international levels. In the process of doing that, Toughan has also dedicated much of his work to transmitting the anguish, frustration, fears and tribulations of the people he represented to the international community.     

Toughan is a continuous fighter. His cartoons are not simply a means for entertainment, but each has its own message. They each represent and embody some aspect of the struggle for equity. Interestingly, in his ongoing fights against injustice, he has never raised a weapon. Instead, he has motivated the characters within his cartoons to wage these battles for him and for all those disadvantaged and subordinated by power for the sake of emancipation. These battles can be seen as struggles on five fronts: freedom, peace, democracy, development, and human rights. 

 He lived in an era immediately after the WWII at a time when political movements were at their height, including Che Guevara, Franz Fanon, Baathist ideals, Marxism-Leninism, Maoism, Muslim Brotherhood etc.  Despite taking shape during the Cold War and having come face to face with political parties on either side of the spectrum, he has not sworn his allegiance or showed alliance to any of these movements. Throughout his career, Toughan has refused to affiliate himself with any political or philosophical standpoint. Instead Toughan has chosen not to be led by ideology, but by his conscience and his fellow people. 

In the world that surrounds Toughan, a great deal has changed over the decades, but the artist himself has not. His values, beliefs are still intact where a clear vision instigates all that he produces and presents in his work. Always searching for a smile, not simply in response to a comical cartoon character but as a result of the true betterment of humankind and the victory of humanity and its values over all forms of strife; a struggle that transcends all religious, racial, ethnic, socio-economic, gender or political lines and divisions.

While reviewing all his work, several themes emerge that characterize Toughan both as an artist and activist:

He speaks out against terrorism - harm inflicted on civilians, women and children. 
He supports all struggles for freedom and liberation.
He is against discrimination and racism.
He is against all forms of political, social and economic dictatorship.
He is against nuclear war and all forms of military confrontation.
He supports developmental programs and the struggle for human rights. 

By observing the work of three charismatic renowned and celebrated activists, we hope to shed light on the essence of Toughanism as a phenomenon. These megastars are the American pediatrician Benjamin Spock, Indian lawyer Mahatma Gandhi, and South African lawyer and Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), who's campaign against the British colony in the Indian subcontinent led to the independence of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Characteristic of Gandhi's approach is peaceful resistance whereby military confrontation was not only avoided but highly discouraged. Instead, Gandhi employed such strategies as public boycott which proved successful in accomplishing the liberation and emancipation of his people. His philosophy has become a school of thought in international affairs and politics with many dedicated followers and disciples. Gandhi preached that "nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."
"I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could. In doing so I have sometimes erred and learnt by my errors. Life and its problems have thus become to me so many experiments in the practice of truth and non-violence. I was capable of sacrificing non-violence for the sake of Truth. In fact it was in the course of my pursuit of truth that I discovered non-violence."  (Harijan, 28.3.1936).

Benjamin Spock (1903-1998) was a pediatrician, author, and political activist whose best-selling book, The  Common Sense Book of Baby and Child  Care (1946), sharply redefined the course of child care during the baby boom after World War II. By 1998, it had sold more than 50 million copies and been translated into nearly 40 languages. Spock became a leading figure in demonstrations against U.S. participation in the Vietnam War from 1959 to 1975. In 1968 he was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiring to aid resistance to the draft (military conscription), but a federal appeals court overruled his conviction. From then on, Spock remained active in politics well into his 80s, giving lectures opposing nuclear weapons.

Nelson Mandela (1918-) entered politics as a student of law when he joined the African National Congress in 1942. His formidable task was to transform the ANC into a mass movement. With this aim in mind, Mandela founded in 1944 the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) which aimed at the attainment of full citizenship and direct parliamentary representation for all South Africans. During the early fifties Mandela led the resistance to the Western Areas and preached the introduction of Bantu Education. He also played a significant role in popularizing the Freedom Charter, adopted by the Congress of the People in 1955. He was later imprisoned for a life term of 27 years. Following his trial, Mandela declared:

I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Upon his release in February 1990, Mandela plunged wholeheartedly into his life's work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after being banned for decades, Nelson Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague.

Nelson Mandela has never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality and learning. Despite terrible provocation, he has never answered racism with racism. His life has been an inspiration, in South Africa and throughout the world, to all who are oppressed and deprived, to all who are opposed to oppression and deprivation. In a life that symbolizes the triumph of the human spirit over man's inhumanity to man, Nelson Mandela accepted the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of all South Africans who suffered and sacrificed so much to bring peace to their land.

The similarities and differences between Toughanism and the other philosophies of Ghandi, Spock and Mandela can be analyzed methodologically following the study of his new book, "Memoirs of a Cartoonist" which is due for publication in the beginning of 2001.. The study of the man, the place, and the era are the keys to distinguishing whether Toughanism is an ideology, philosophy or even a phenomenon!

Here are some of the cartoons featured in Toughan's book, "Caricature of Toughan" Part 2. [All were published in Al-Gomhorria Daily Newspaper (Mr.Samir Ragab - Chief Editor)] - Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the cartoons:

(Some of Toughan's work is included in this issue's National Profile article on Yemen)

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Dr. Talaat I. Farag, MBBCH, DCH, MSc, DMSc, FRCP(Edin), FACP, is an adjunct professor at Dalhousie University, Canada. He is the author and co-author of five books, and over 150 scientific papers.

Adel Iskandar, BSc (Dalhousie), MA (Purdue), is a PhD student in Communication at the University of Kentucky, USA.

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