La Codorniz was launched by Miguel Mihura in 1941.[3] Tono was instrumental in the establishment of the magazine which was the successor of another satirical magazine entitled La Ametralladora (Spanish: The Machine Gun).[4] The first issue of La Codorniz appeared on 8 June 1941.[1][5] La Codorniz was published in Madrid on a weekly basis.[1][6] In 1944 Mihura sold La Codorniz.[4]
The magazine was edited by the following: Miguel Mihura (June 1941–June 1944),[7] Álvaro de Laiglesia (1944–1977)[6] and Manuel Summers (1977–1978).[3] During the editorship of Mihura the magazine adopted an avant garde humor approach.[5] Under Álvaro de Laiglesia it focused on social satire and realistic humor.[5] In 1944 the owner of the magazine became La Vanguardia Española led by Carlos Godó Valls.[6] Following this change the headquarters of the magazine moved to Barcelona.[1] Fernando Perdiguero was the long-term managing editor of La Codorniz who served in the post until his death in 1970.[6]
La Codorniz featured work by well-known artists, including Tono, Chumy Chúmez, Forges, Gayo, Julio Cebrián, Kalikrates, Madrigal, Máximo, Mingote and Manuel Summers.[3] The magazine did not have a political agenda, and as a result, its contributors were from different political ideologies.[3] However, the magazine was censored and suspended in 1973 and 1975.[5] Its contributors and other Spanish journalists were subject to death threats in 1976.[8] La Codorniz folded following the publication of the final issue dated 17 December 1978 due to low revenues.[1][5]
La Codorniz inspired many satirical magazine, including El Jueves.[5]
