Matt Pritchett

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Matthew Pritchett MBE (born 14 July 1964) 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, who was a columnist for The Telegraph for all decades, is the son of the writer V. S. Pritchett. Matt's sister is screenwriter Georgia Pritchett.

At young age, Pritchett attended a grammar school in southeast London before studying graphics at Saint Martin's School of Art. He started working as a waiter in a pizza restaurant, and started drawing cartoons in his spare time. His first cartoon was published in the New Statesman, and he soon started drawing more cartoons for The Telegraph diary. He had considered becoming a film-cameraman, but gave up after realising he had misunderstood the role.

Career and honours

Following the death of Mark Boxer in 1988, Pritchett was hired by Max Hastings to be The Telegraph's new cartoonist. His first cartoon in this role came the day after the newspaper was printed with the date error, leading them to make a front-page apology accompanied by a cartoon saying "I hope I have a better Thursday than I did yesterday".

He was appointed an MBE in the 2002 New Year Honours "for services to Journalism", 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.

He has won the British Press Awards' "Cartoonist of the Year" multiple times, and has been a nominee many other times. His work has also been published in Punch.

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. His wife's sister, Benedicte, is married to Martin Newland, a former editor of The Daily Telegraph.

Published works

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Awards

• British Press Awards (The Press Awards after 2010): "Cartoonist of the Year" (2000, 2008, 2009, 2019)
• The Press Awards: "The Journalists' Charity Award" (2014)

External links

• Telegraph cartoons
• Biography at the British Cartoon Archive