Edmond Kirazian, known professionally as Kiraz, was born on 25 August 1923 in Cairo, in the Heliopolis district, into a Francophile family of Armenian origin. He began his career at the age of seventeen as a political press cartoonist and illustrator, contributing to Egyptian publications such as Image, Parade, La Réforme d’Alexandrie, Al Moussavar, and Al Itnein. In 1946 Kiraz moved to Paris, where he developed the theme that would define his career: the Parisiennes, tall and slender figures rendered with humor, elegance, and a distinctive wide-eyed style.

Kiraz collaborated with magazines including Ici Paris, Gala, Paris Match, Glamor, and Playboy, but it was through his long association with Jours de France that he created his c...