André François was born into a Hungarian family on November 9, 1915, in Temesvár, Banat (a location in Austria that later merged with Romania), but he spent almost his entire creative life in France. He became a French citizen in 1939.
He worked as a painter, sculptor, and graphic designer, but he is best remembered for his cartoons, whose subtle humor and significant influence akin to Saul Steinberg's cartoons gradually reached a broader audience, being published in leading United Kingdom ("Punch") and U.S. ("The New Yorker") magazines. He was a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale.
The artist passed away in 2005 at his home in Grisy-le-Plâtre, France.
