Tears - and cartoons - at Charlie Hebdo victims' funerals

By Euronews

Published on 15/01/2015 - 16:06

The final farewell to the Charlie Hebdo victims prompted tears but also a pledge to continue the cartoonists' work.

Five victims of last week’s Charlie Hebdo massacre were laid to rest on Thursday – among them Tignous, one of the French satirical newspaper’s best-known cartoonists.

Hundreds gathered for a public ceremony on the outskirts of Paris
including those pursuing the work the artist and his slain colleagues loved.

“They have killed really nice people who could speak to adults and kids alike and we are going to continue to do exactly the same thing,” said Luz, the Charlie Hebdo cartoonist behind the new edition’s defiant front page, featuring the Prophet Mohammad.

Loved ones left a personal touch, drawing cartoons on the coffin of
Tignous, whose real name was Bernard Verlhac.

His wife Chloé paid a moving tribute to her 57-year-old husband and the other Charlie Hebdo victims.

“Let’s reclaim the right to do what we were doing before – not remaining silent,” she told mourners.

“Let’s remember that they were all pacifists and republicans. For our children, lets continue to defend secularism in schools. I think that that is fundamental.”

Fellow cartoon legend Georges Wolinski, 80, was also gunned down in an attack that prompted mass marches on French streets.

“Let’s stay united,” said Elsa Wolinski, speaking at her father’s funeral at the famous Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

“Let’s make sure this isn’t a one-off and that the mood doesn’t return to what it used to be. And let’s stay smart about this and not succumb to hatred.”

Other victims laid to rest include psychiatrist Elsa Cayat who wrote a column for Charlie Hebdo.

The attack on its offices claimed 12 of the 17 lives lost in three days of Islamist militant violence in Paris.

Franck Brinsolaro – a protection officer assigned to the newspaper’s editor amid threats – was one of three police victims. He, too, was laid to rest on Thursday.

Editor Stephane Charbonnier, who drew cartoons under the rubric “Charb,” was himself also killed in the attack.

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