Matt Pritchett

Matthew Pritchett MBE (born 14 July 1964)[1] is a British cartoonist who has worked on The Daily Telegraph newspaper under the pen name Matt since 1988.

Early life and education

Pritchett's father Oliver Pritchett was a columnist for The Daily Telegraph for several decades;[2] his paternal grandfather was the writer V. S. Pritchett.[3][4] The screenwriter Georgia Pritchett is his sister.[5]

Pritchett attended a grammar school in south-east London before studying graphics at Saint Martin's School of Art. He started working as a waiter in a pizza restaurant, while drawing cartoons in his spare time. His first cartoon was published in the New Statesman, and he then started drawing cartoons for The Daily Telegraph diary.[3] He had considered becoming a film-cameraman, but gave up after realising he had misunderstood the role.[6]

Career

Following the death of Mark Boxer in 1988, Pritchett was hired by Max Hastings to be The Daily Telegraph's new pocket cartoonist.[3] His first cartoon in this role came the day after the newspaper was printed with a date error, leading them to make a front-page apology; the cartoon caption was, "I hope I have a better Thursday than I did yesterday."[6][7] His work has also been published in Punch.[8]

Honours

Pritchett won the British Press Awards' "Cartoonist of the Year" in 2000,[9] 2008,[10] 2009,[11] and 2019,[12] and has been a nominee many other times.[13][14] He won "The Journalists' Charity Award" at the 2014 Press Awards.[15]

He was appointed an MBE in the 2002 New Year Honours "for services to Journalism",[16] and in 2005, Press Gazette inducted him into their Hall of Fame as one of the 40 most influential journalists of the past four decades.[6][17]

Personal life

Pritchett is married to Pascale Smets, a Belgian former fashion designer. They met whilst studying at Saint Martin's, and have three daughters and a son together, including The Guardian cartoonist Edith Pritchett.[18] His wife's sister, Benedicte, is married to Martin Newland, a former editor of The Daily Telegraph.[3][4]

Published works

  • The Best of Matt, 2004. Orion. 2004.[19]
  • Matt - The Best of 2008. Orion. 2008.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Matthew Pritchett (Matt)". British Cartoon Archive. University of Kent. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  2. ^ Pritchett, Oliver (16 December 2018). "Life as a Sunday Telegraph journalist was full of historic - and bizarre - moments". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e Davidson, Max (16 October 2008). "Cartoonist Matt makes his mark with a gentle touch". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  4. ^ a b Lodico, Joy; Burrell, Ian (17 January 2005). "Media: A Family Business". The Independent. Archived from the original on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  5. ^ Brown, Helen (1 August 2021). "'He pretended to be a robot, then tried to kill me': growing up with cartoonist Matt". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Burrell, Ian (21 November 2005). "Matt Pritchett: The Telegraph cartoonist gets top honour". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  7. ^ "A newspaper ahead of its time". The Daily Telegraph. 25 February 1988. p. 1. Retrieved 26 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Matt Cartoons (Matthew Pritchett)". Punch Magazine Cartoon Archive. 10 October 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Legendary editor wins life award". The Guardian. 22 March 2000. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  10. ^ "British Press Awards 2008 - full list of winners". The Guardian. 9 April 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  11. ^ "British Press Awards 2009: full list of winners". The Guardian. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  12. ^ Davies, Gareth (3 April 2020). "Telegraph wins Website of the Year at British Press Awards - one of 11 accolades". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  13. ^ "British Press Awards". The Guardian. 19 March 2003. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Press Awards for 2012 – winners". The Guardian. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Press awards: Everyday Sexism founder wins Georgina Henry prize". The Guardian. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  16. ^ "MBEs N - R". BBC News. 31 December 2001. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  17. ^ Gibson, Owen (22 November 2005). "Newspaper panel picks its top 40 - from agony aunts to war reporters". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  18. ^ Pownall, Elfreda (31 August 2019). "At the table for a Telegraph family feast with Pascale Smets and cartoonist Matt". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  19. ^ Sabin, Roger (12 December 2004). "68,647 ways to make you laugh". The Observer. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
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