In a photo and just five short words, a daughter's Instagram post summed up the raw tragedy at the centre of Wednesday's terrorist attack in Paris.

"Papa est parti pas Wolinski," read the post, which translates to "Papa has left (is gone), not Wolinski."

The words from Elsa Wolinski were accompanied by an image of what is thought to be Georges Wolinski's study, his drawing board on his desk with a pencil on a white page.

Wolinski was among the 12 people killed in the shooting attack at French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

The Instagram post highlighted that to their families, the victims of the tragedy were more than national icons.

 

Georges Wolinski

Photo: AFP

Wolinski, 80, was well-known for his tongue-in-cheek spoofs on romance and sexuality, though never refrained from making cynical observations on politics and society.

Born in French Tunisia to Jewish parents of Polish and Tunisian descent, Wolinski moved to Paris as a teenager to study archiceture though quickly moved to cartoons after graduating.

He became well-known in France for his cartoons in Charlie Hebdo, as well as other publications including Liberation, L'Echo de savanes and Paris-Match.

He was a contributor for the predecessor of Charlie Hebdo, Hara-Kiri, writing what were sometimes considered "vulgar" political comic strips and cartoons.

He never abandoned his Jewish identity and provided insightful drawings for the French version of Dan Greenburg's 1965 global best-seller, "How to be a Jewish Mother: a very lovely training manual". 

Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier

Photo: AFP

Charbonnier, 47, the magazine's editor and chief cartoonist, was understood to be the main target of the attack on the newsroom.

He began editing Charlie Hebdo in 2009 and had been the victim of death threats due to controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.

His best known illustrations were an anti-capitalist cat and dog, known as Maurice and Patapon.

Charbonnier was put under police protection in 2011 after the Charlie Hebdo offices were firebombed and destroyed.

In 2012 he ignored the advice of the French government and published crude pictures of Muhammad, which is prohibited under Islamic law. A brigadier in the protection service named Franck Brinsolaro was assigned to protedct the Carlie Hebdo offices. He was one of the 12 murdered on Wednesday.

Charbonnier once told Le Monde that, as a single man, he did not fear retaliation, and that he would rather "die standing than live on my knees".

One of Charbonnier's final cartoon's was shared on social media on Wednesday. Under the words "still no attacks in France", a man dressed as an Islamic extremist says he has until the end of January to present his New Year's wishes. 

Jean "Cabu" Cabut

Photo: AFP

Cabut, 76, known by his pen name "Cabu", was one of France's best known cartoonists and caricaturists.

He was behind the controversial 2006 front page of Charlie Hebdo, which depicted the prophet Muhammad. The image was titled "Mohammed Overwhelmed by Fundamentalists" and showed the prophet saying that "it's hard to be loved by idiots".

Cabut studied at Paris Ecole Estienne in Paris and reportedly kept up his drawing while fighting as a conscript in the Algerian War. His experiences in Algeria cemented Cabut's virulent anti-militarist stance and he remained a tireless campaigner for non-violence and was a vocal critic of the French political establishment.

In 1960 he was one of the founders of the satirical magazine, Hara-Kiri. In 1970, French president Charles de Gaulle banned the publication. Cabut and fellow-founder Charbonnier responded by simply changing the name to Charlie Hebdo and publishing an identical cover the following week.

Cabut is best known for his character Mon Beauf ("My brother-in-law"), which has since become a popular French term for a sexist, racist or vulgar Frenchman. Cabut could have been said to draw inspiration from the notorious mayor of Nice, Jacques Médecin, who sued the cartoonist for libel. Incidentally, Médecin was later tried and convicted for corruption.

Cabut was also known for his illustrations on a number of French children's television shows and the French satirical paper Le Canard enchaine.

He was rumoured to have been one of the highest paid cartoonists in the world.

Bernard "Tignou"' Verlhac

Photo: AFP

Verlhac, 58, known by the pseudonym Tignous, had worked for Charlie Hebdo since 1980. His illustrations also appeared in magazines such as Marianne and Fluide Glacial.

In 2008, Verlhac appeared at the Cannes Film Festival alongside Wolinski and Cabu for the documentary C'est dur d'être aimé par des cons or It's Hard Being Loved by Jerks, about death threats targeting Charlie Hebdo.

He was a member of a group of artists called Cartoonists for Peace and also belonged to the Press Judiciare, an association of French journalists covering the courts.

Tignous filed his last drawing, a self portrait wishing all a Happy New Year, to the association the night before his death. 

Bernard Maris

Maris, 68, was an economist and a member of the Bank of France's General Council.

He was a contributor to Charlie Hebdo with a column under the pseudonym "Oncle Bernard".

A regular commentator on economics for the France Inter radio network, Maris also wrote for various papers: Le Monde, Marianne, Le Nouvel Observateur and Le Figaro Magazine.

Maris was a professor at the Institute of European studies of the University of Paris VIII.

These are the names of all 12 victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting:

• Frédéric Boisseau, maintenance worker