Polish artist Pawel Kuczynski was born in 1976 in Szczecin, Poland. His childhood was colored by dramatic resistance to the nation’s communist regime; after years of political turmoil, the first free Polish elections since the 1920s were held in 1991, when Kuczynski was fifteen. After secondary school, Kuczynski specialized in graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan. When a friend challenged him to enter a cartoon competition in 2004, he became hooked on satire illustration. Today, his satirical artwork is recognized worldwide and has received over one hundred and thirty awards.