Josef Rotter (fl. 1902–14) was a teacher, illustrator, and editorial cartoonist of German or Austrian origin, most noted for his contribution to the Molla Nasreddin magazine.
Early life and education
Rotter's date and place of birth are not known. The best, yet far from precise, indication regarding his birthdate is a 1902 group photo at one of Rotter's workplaces, showing a man in his thirties to fifties[1] with an obvious resemblance to a caricature portrait of Rotter in the Jalil Mammadguluzadeh Encyclopedia.[2]
Rotter has been variously described as German,[3] German-born,[4] ethnic German,[5] and Austrian, without German necessarily referring to the German Empire, and with the term Austrian applied to Rotter in a meticulous, largely ethnographic work by Karl August Fischer [de].[6]
Rotter is said to have studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts,[7] but his name does not appear in the institution's 1809–1935 student matriculation books.[8]
1902–14 Career
In 1902 Rotter accepted an invitation to teach at the newly founded Tbilisi Secondary School of Painting and Sculpture, the immediate precursor of the Georgian Academy of Fine Arts.[9] The invitation was issued by Oskar Schmerling, a second generation Caucasian German artist and director of the school, with whom Rotter would remain in close contact for years—the two men not only teaching at the same institution, but also traveling together, and contributing to many of the same magazines.[10]
Over eleven hundred of Rotter’s illustrations were published in Molla Nasreddin. Each issue of this weekly magazine, whose publication experienced multiple interruptions, had a close to eight-page editorial content, including four pages devoted to social or political cartoons. About a third of these fully illustrated pages in 1906–7, half in 1908–9, three-quarters in 1910–13, nine-tenths in 1914, and three-fifths over the entire 1906–14 period, were filled with Rotter’s work.[15] So Rotter’s role is seen as important from in quantitative terms. Cartoons were meant to widen the audience of Molla Nasreddin, include the less educated, and cross linguistic barriers; and indeed, the magazine enjoyed a large circulation, with numerous schools and coffeehouses among its subscribers, and a geographic reach suggesting a far from exclusively Azeri readership.[16] So again Rotter’s role is seen as important, but this time from a qualitative point of view and in tandem with Schmerling, the publication’s other prominent illustrator. Finally, considering Rotter's impact in synergy with all of Molla Nasreddin's collaborators, one should recall the magazine's standing as a main proponent of progressive ideas in the Muslim world, a model or reference point for the Armenian, Azeri, Georgian, Iranian, and Tatar press, and a significant force in the Persian Constitutional Revolution.[17]
Rotter’s collaboration with Tbilisi based periodicals came to a sudden end in the summer of 1914, shortly before the onset of World War I.[19] Less than conclusive indications that Rotter survived the war are the first publications of some of his work in the 1920s and 1930s, in two narratives of Dietrich von Berne’s exploits, a selection of Friedrich von Schiller's poems, and an album dealing with Armenian legends and folk tales.[20] The date and place of Rotter’s death are not known.
Gallery
Khatabala, Oct. 8, 1911, no. 41, p. 489
Khatabala, Dec. 3, 1911, no. 49, p. 588
Khatabala, June 2, 1912, no. 21, p. 249
Molla Nasreddin, Jan. 10, 1910, no. 2, pp. 4–5
Molla Nasreddin, Nov. 13, 1910, no. 36, p. 8
Molla Nasreddin, May 15, 1911, no. 18, p. 5
Notes
^Thirtieth photo in GAHPC (n.d.), third row, fourth person from the right. See also the undated photo in Caffee et al. (2019), second row, second person from the left. Both pictures were taken at the Arshakuni House, hosting the Caucasian Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts and the Tbilisi Secondary School of Painting and Sculpture (TSAA 2017Archived 2022-03-31 at the Wayback Machine, Eliozova 2018), whose connection with Rotter is described in the next section.
^Anar et al. (2008, 242). The portrait was first or beforehand published in the illustrated supplement to Tsnobis Furtseli, p. 4 of the April 6, 1903 issue, where it is signed by Oskar Schmerling, and appearing in a group of eight portraits, not individually identified, but collectively described as “visual artists.”
^Based on the digital edition's (ABKM 2015) search engine results. As observed by Jooss (2010, 10) the books "contain only partially accurate information, and in some cases, demonstrable errors." But on the other hand, sources affirming that Rotter studied at the Munich academy (Anar et al. 2008, 272; Guliyev and Rza 1976–87, 10:555) say the same of his colleague Schmerling, in contrast again with not only matriculation data but also Schmerling's autobiography and résumé in Caffee et al. (2019).
^Based on Habbibayli and Karimli (2017-8), and online resources provided by the National Library of Armenia and Parliamentary Library of Georgia, the counts of Rotter’s illustrations first published in Hasker, Eshmakis Matrakhi, Kaukasische Post, Khatabala, Nakaduli, Nishaduri, Molla Nasreddin, Shuamavali, and the illustrated supplement to Tsnobis Furtseli are 117, 16, 3, 840, 144, 16, 1161, 18, and 22. The count for Eshmakis Matrakhi includes Rotter’s contributions to the magazine’s avatars Matrakhi, Matrakhi da salamuri, Salamuri, Chevni salamuri, Eshmaki, and Eshmakis salamuri. Similarly, the count for Nakaduli conflates the illustrations published in either its children’s or teenager’s editions.
^Habbibayli and Karimli (2017-8). Based on this reedition, the number of Molla Nasraddin issues published in each year from 1906 to 1914 is 37, 49, 52, 52, 42, 47, 9, 27, and 25. Each issue comprised just eight pages, with commercial content in negligible amount, except in the late 1908 to late 1909 interval, during which four additional pages were reserved for advertizing.
GAHPC (Georgian Association for the History of Photography in the Caucasus). n.d. “Gigo Gabashvili Collection.” The Georgian Museum of Photography. Accessed July 25, 2025.
