| Raquel Orzuj | |
| Other Names: | ms. orzuj |
| Birth Date: | 30 January 1939 |
| Birth Place: | Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Death Place: | Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Alma Mater: | Taller Torres Garcia Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura |
| Occupation: | Artist, writer, director |
Raquel Orzuj (January 30, 1939 - October 3, 2018) was a Uruguayan artist, cultural journalist, and film director known for her humorous cartoons. She signed her work as "ms. orzuj."[1]
Raquel Orzuj was born on January 30, 1939, in Montevideo, Uruguay. She was Jewish and her father, Moisés Orzuj, was an immigrant from Lithuania who founded the Yiddish-language newspaper Folksblat. As a child, her parents were connected with influential Jewish Uruguayan figures like Juan Carlos Onetti and Zoma Baitler, as well as Golda Meir, the former Primer Minister of Israel.[2]
She studied at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, the, and the Taller Torres Garcia art school under Joaquín Torres García.[3]
Orzuj began working as an editor at the WittyWorld international cartoon magazine in 1988.
In 1994, she founded the Salón internacional de Humor Grafico de la mujer ("International Women's Graphic Humor Exhibition") in order to support other women cartoonists. She has also led cartoon and artist workshops around the world.
Orzuj used humor to cross cultural boundaries and discuss international human rights issues in her artworks, especially violence against women and children.[4]
Her work has been exhibited at museums in Uruguay, Spain, the United States, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Germany, South Korea, and many others.