Mauricio de Sousa

Mauricio Araújo de Sousa (Brazilian Portuguese: [mawˈɾisju dʒi ˈsowzɐ]; born October 27, 1935), known artistically as Mauricio de Sousa or mononymously just as Mauricio, is a Brazilian cartoonist and businessman who has created over 200 characters for his popular series of children's comic books named Turma da Mônica (Monica and Friends).

At 17 years of age, he worked for a daily newspaper called Folha da Manhã as a crime reporter. In 1959, Mauricio quit that job and began his comic book career, and created Monica and Friends. Mauricio's characters were inspired by children he knew from his childhood and by his own children. His later style is slightly reminiscent of that of Osamu Tezuka, a famous Japanese manga artist and personal friend. Mauricio's work has garnered recogniation both in his home country and abroad, which includes a number of international awards. In 2011, he was honored in the seventh edition of the Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos, at Belo Horizonte.