Charlie Hebdo Cartoonist Buried in Unusual Coffin (See Photos)

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Friends of a slain Charlie Hebdo cartoonist scrawled drawings and messages on his wooden casket Thursday to pay tribute to his life as an artist.

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Thousands gathered outside Bernard “Tignous” Verlhac’s private family funeral service at Montreuil City Hall outside Paris and the large crowds broke into applause when pallbearers carried the decorated casket from the town hall building into the light drizzle. Verlhac, 57, was buried at Paris’ Père Lachaise cemetery, the final resting place of many great writers and artists, including Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde and Victor Hugo.

The cartoonist was among 12 who lost their lives Jan. 7, when masked terrorists stormed the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Muslim extremists were outraged by the publication’s depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. Verlhac’s surviving colleagues lent their pens to adorn his coffin with the same kinds of caricatures and jokes that he made in life.

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Chloé Verlhac, the artist’s widow, spoke at the funeral while the large crowds lay flowers beneath a large portrait of the cartoonist outside, Agence France Presse reported. She said it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure her husband’s death is not in vain and that all the slain Charlie Hebdo journalists are remembered as messengers of hope.

Credit: Yahoo

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