Nikita Mandryka

{{Short description|French cartoonist (1940–2021)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}

{{Infobox comics creator

| name = Mandryka

| image = Mandryka IMG 2751.JPG

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|10|20|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Bizerte, French Tunisia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|06|14|1940|10|20|df=y}}

| death_place = Geneva, Switzerland

| nationality = French

| area = artist, writer

| alias = Nik, Kalkus, Karl Kruss, Caleq-usse, Calgus, Kilkoz

| notable works = Le Concombre Masqué
Les Minuscules
Les Clopinettes

| awards = see #Awards

}}

Nikita Mandryka (20 October 1940 – 13 June 2021){{cite web|url=http://lambiek.net/artists/m/mandryka.htm|title=Nikita Mandryka : Kalkus, Nik, Karl Kruss, Caleq-usse, Calgus, Kil|website=Lambiek.net|accessdate=14 June 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://soirmag.lesoir.be/378104/article/2021-06-14/bd-nikita-mandryka-pere-du-concombre-masque-est-decede|title=BD: Nikita Mandryka, père du Concombre masqué, est décédé|date=14 June 2021|website=Soirmag}} was a French comics artist.{{cite web|url=http://lambiek.net/artists/m/mandryka.htm|title=Nikita Mandryka : Kalkus, Nik, Karl Kruss, Caleq-usse, Calgus, Kil|website=Lambiek.net|accessdate=28 December 2016}}

He started drawing in the Vaillant magazine, before moving to Pilote in 1967, and then created L'Écho des savanes along with Claire Bretécher and Marcel Gotlib in 1972. He left this magazine in 1979, going back to Pilote as editorial director. His major and better known works are Le Concombre Masqué (The Masked Cucumber) stories. He won the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême in 1994.