Eduard Thony was born in Germany in 1866. When Albert Langen, started Simplicissimus in 1896, he invited Thony to contribute to the journal.

In 1906 several staff members, including Thony Olaf Gulbransson, Ludwig Thoma, Thomas Heine and Rudolf Wilke persuaded Albert Langen to change Simplicissimus into a joint stock company. This gave more power to the staff to control the direction of the journal.

His drawings appeared in the journal until it ceased publication in 1944. Thony specialized in caricatures of military types. He saw himself as an illustrator rather than a cartoonist and although he decided on the subject matter, did not write the captions. Eduard Thony died in 1950.