Frans Piët

Frans Piët was born on 17 February 1905 in Haarlem, Netherlands, and died on 5 January 1997. He is best known as the original creator of *Sjors & Sjimmie*, the longest-running Dutch comic strip series. Piët began his career in the 1930s, drawing for newspapers and magazines before launching *Sjors* in 1938. The strip, initially featuring a mischievous boy, evolved into *Sjors & Sjimmie* when he introduced Sjimmie, a Black character, in the 1940s. Piët wrote and drew the series for decades, with his clean, expressive linework and gentle humor defining its early tone. He also contributed to *Panorama* and created *Joris Voetangel weet er raad op*. His key collaborators included writers and editors at the De Spaarnestad publishing house. Piët’s work on *Sjors & Sjimmie* laid the foundation for later artists like Jan Kruis and Wil Raymakers to continue the series. He remained active in comics until the early 1980s, leaving a lasting imprint on Dutch popular culture. Though he did not receive major international awards, his influence is recognized in the Netherlands for establishing one of its most enduring comic franchises.