Known as the first South African-born professional cartoonist, William Howard Schroeder was born in 1852 in Cape Town, where he studied art and photography before publishing his first cartoon in The Zingari in 1871, which marks the beginning of his long partnership with Charles Cowen who was editor at the time. After The Zingari was discontinued, Schroeder moved to The Lantern where he would serve as cartoonist for twelve years. Schroeder’s work also appeared in a variety of other newspapers during this time, from portraits in The Excalibur to sketches in Het Volksblad, to cartoons in The Knobkerrie, a weekly newspaper he owned. In The Cape Argus Weekly, he published sketches under the name “Cynicus”. In 1891, after a brief and overwhelming sojourn in Johannesburg, Schroeder moved to Pretoria, where he became the full-time cartoonist for The Press. He worked there until he died in 1892.
- Wikipedia page for William Howard Schroeder
- Link to the full online text of The Schroeder Art Memento, edited by Leo Weinthal.
- The Wikimedia Commons includes 37 pieces by W.H. Schroeder, most of which are caricatures and portraits
- Leo Weinthal, Ed. The Schroeder Art Memento. Pretoria: The Press Printing and Publishing, 1894.