Francesc Vila i Rufas (born Barcelona, October 22, 1927 – died December 22, 2006) was a cartoonist and painter, better known as Cesc, a pseudonym with which he signed his work. He was one of the great references of Catalan graphic humour in the twentieth century.
A cartoonist and painter, son of the sketch artist, illustrator and bibliophile, Joan Vila, “D’Ivori”, he devoted practically his entire career to graphic humour. He began by drawing a daily cartoon in the Diario de Barcelona and soon became a “well of fresh water in the Francoist desert”. His ironic and tender images paint an image of Catalonia from the sixties until the nineties. He also drew for El Correo Catalán, Tele/eXpres and, when he had already climbed out of the trench of newspaper cartoons in an attempt to devote his time to painting, he returned by writing the joke in Catalan in the new Diari de Barcelona and later in L’Avui. When he finally stopped contributing the joke in L’Avui, in 1987, he devoted himself to painting and engraving. Cesc held several exhibitions, and received a variety of awards.
He founded and edited the humour magazine Tururut! in the mid-fifties and contributed to the best magazines in Spain (Por Favor, Gaceta Ilustrada, Mundo, Serra d’Or, Tele/Estel, El Jueves, etc.) and abroad (Punch, Pardon, Paris Match, etc.).
