LAMAMIMET

Nicole Hollander was born on April 25, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois, to labor activist parents. She earned a B.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign in 1960 and an M.F.A. from Boston University in 1966, laying the groundwork for a career that blended art and activism.

In the late 1970s she began creating political illustrations for the feminist newsletter The Spokeswoman, which evolved into the comic strip The Feminist Funnies. The strip introduced the character Sylvia, and in 1981 Field Newspaper Syndicate launched Sylvia as a daily comic, earning national syndication and a reputation for acerbic humor and feminist commentary. Hollander also contributed cartoons to Mother Jones and published numerous Sylvia collections.

Beyond her comics, Hollander taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and led workshops at Ohio State University, Columbia College Chicago, and other institutions. She donated her archive to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, and her work was exhibited in galleries such as Chicago’s Woman Made Gallery. Her later projects included one‑woman shows and contributions to the Kinsey Institute’s collection.

Hollander announced the retirement of Sylvia from newspaper syndication in 2012 but continued to share archival strips online. She passed away on April 23, 2026, at the age of 86, leaving a lasting legacy as a pioneering feminist cartoonist.