Sempé, who originally wanted to be a jazz pianist and had a difficult childhood, dropped out of school at the age of 14. He then lied about his age to join the military. However, the soldier life did not suit him and he decided to embrace another profession: he started selling his drawings to Parisian newspapers.
While working at a news agency, he befriended the legendary comic book writer René Goscinny, of Asterix fame, and together they created the character Le Petit Nicolas in 1959. “Nicolas’ adventures were a way to relive the misery I went through during my childhood and make sure everything was going to be okay,” Sempé said in 2018.
But in 1959, the books went largely unnoticed. So he continued to sell drawings to newspapers to make ends meet, a stage in his career that he described as “terrible.” It wasn’t until 1978, when he was hired by The New Yorker, that he became successful. “I was almost 50 and for the first time in my life I existed. I had finally found my family.”
Sempé was born in 1932 in the village of Pessac, near Bordeaux, after his mother had an affair with her boss. The illegitimate son came to live in a violent foster home. When his mother took him back, she also appeared to have violent tendencies. “Come closer, I’ll hit you so hard that the wall will hit you back,” he recalled her telling him.
They lived with his alcoholic stepfather. Who his real father was remained a mystery that would haunt Sempé for the rest of his life. “You don’t know who you are, what you’re built for,” he said later.
The world Sempé sketched in Le Petit Nicolas contrasted sharply with the misery of his own upbringing. With softly drawn lines, he revealed funny and sometimes biting truths about the world, without ever resorting to ridicule. “You never get over your childhood,” he said toward the end of his life. “You try to sort things out, to make your memories more beautiful. But you’ll never get over it.”
Today, the books are international bestsellers with more than 15 million copies sold in 45 countries and have been adapted into a popular film and cartoon series.