Pierre Culliford (1928 - 1992), known as Peyo, is a Belgian illustrator, perhaps best known for the creation of the Smurfs comic strip. He took on the name "Peyo" early in his professional career, based on an English cousin's mispronunciation of "Pierrot".
He began work at Le Journal de Spirou, an illustrated periodical, fresh out of school.
(I'm having trouble translating, and really making out more detail on the topic of Le Journal de Spirou. if someone could perhaps fill this in, that would be very useful. It appears to be something of a children's comic book from the sixties. Comic books of this age tend to be worth a great deal of money, thus very rare.)
Peyo wrote and drew a number of characters and storylines, including "Poussy", "Pierrot", and "Benoit Brisefer" (translated to English as "Steven Strong"). But his favorite was "Johan & Pirlouit" (Translated to English as "Johan and Peewit"), which began in 1947.
Set in the middle ages in Europe, Johan is a brave young page to the king, and Peewit (pronounced Pee-Wee) is his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick. Johan rides off to defend the meek on his trusty horse, while Peewit gallops sporadically behind on his goat, named Biquette. The pair are driven by duty to their king, and the courage to defend the underpowered.
It was in "Johan & Pirlouit", on October 23, 1958, that the first Smurf appeared.