OTTAWA — An original print of the famous photograph of Winston Churchill, taken by Armenian photographer Yousuf Karsh, has been recovered in Italy after being stolen from an Ottawa hotel and replaced with a fake, the BBC reports.
The 1941 photograph, known as “The Roaring Lion,” was taken by Karsh shortly after Churchill delivered a wartime speech to Canada’s parliament.
On Wednesday, Ottawa police announced that the portrait was found in the possession of a private buyer in Genoa, Italy, who was unaware it had been stolen.
Authorities also revealed the arrest of a man from Powassan, Ontario, in connection with the theft and illegal sale. The 43-year-old, whose name is subject to a publication ban, faces multiple charges in Canada, including forgery, theft, trafficking, and damage to property.
Investigators said he was arrested on April 25 and appeared in court in Ottawa the following day.
The iconic photograph captures Churchill, Britain’s wartime prime minister, on Parliament Hill moments after Karsh famously removed a cigar from his mouth.
“I held out an ashtray, but he would not dispose of it… I waited; he continued to chomp vigorously at his cigar. I waited,” Karsh later recalled. “Then I stepped toward him and, without premeditation but ever respectfully, I said, ‘Forgive me, sir,’ and plucked the cigar from his mouth.”
By the time Karsh returned to his camera, he wrote, Churchill looked “so belligerent he could have devoured me.”
Yousuf Karsh (December 23, 1908 – July 13, 2002) was an Armenian-Canadian photographer renowned for his portraits of notable figures. He is regarded as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century.
A survivor of the Armenian Genocide, Karsh migrated to Canada as a refugee. By the 1930s, he had established himself as a prominent photographer in Ottawa, where he lived most of his adult life, though he traveled extensively for his work. His iconic photograph of Winston Churchill marked a turning point in his career, leading to numerous portraits of political leaders and prominent figures in the arts and sciences. More than 20 of his photographs appeared on the cover of Life magazine before his retirement in 1993.
