Quino, Argentine Cartoonist, Receives Spain's 'Prince Of Asturias Award For Communication And Humanities’ For Comic 'Mafalda' 

Argentine cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón -- who is more popularly known by his pen name "Quino" -- is this year's recipient of Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities for his comic strip "Mafalda," which ran from 1964 to 1973.

“It is a very great honour to receive the Prince of Asturias Award. I am deeply moved and very grateful to Spain, to which I feel very close due to the blood my parents gave me," said the cartoonist in response to being awarded the prestigious distinction.

The jury for the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities -- which was chaired by Víctor García de la Concha and with Ramón López Vilas acting as secretary -- decided to bestow the honor on Quino on Mafalda's 50th anniversary since his "work holds enormous educational value and has been translated into many languages, a fact that reveals its universality" and because "his characters transcend all geographical settings, ages and social conditions."

The Mafalda comic strip, which was first published in Buenos Aires weekly magazine Primera Plana in 1964, is about a young girl who "dreams of a world that is more dignified, just and respectful of human rights." According to the Prince of Asturias Foundation's website: "In the Mafalda series, Quino reflected the world of adults as seen through the eyes of a group of children. The leading character was an inquisitive, intelligent, ironic, non-conformist girl, concerned with peace and human rights, who hates soup and loves the Beatles."

Incidentally, while Mafalda was Quino's claim to fame, the character was first conceived for a failed advertising campaign. By 1969, the Argentine cartoonist's comic reached Europe and had been translated into 15 languages. In 1973, Quino stopped drawing Mafalda, but the international interest in the character kept the comic strip alive around the world.

Quino has been the recipient of many accolades throughout his career, including: the Cartoonist of the Year Award at the International Salon of Montreal (1982), two Konex Platinum Awards for Visual Arts-Graphic Humour (1982 and 1992) and a Konex Special Mention (2012), the Quevedos Latin American Prize for Graphic Humour (2000) and the Romics Oro Prize (Rome, 2011).