René Hausman was born in Verviers, Belgium in 1936. After meeting already famed comics author Raymond Macherot when he was 18 years old, he quit his studies and made illustrations for local magazines. A few years later, he started working for Le Moustique, a family magazine from publisher Dupuis. From there, he moved to Spirou, the Franco-Belgian comics magazine of the same publisher, where he contributed in 1957 Saki et Zunie, his first comic, with a story by Yvan Delporte. In the following years, he provided more than 500 illustrations for the magazine, specializing in animals and local folklore, which earned him the nickname "Bard of the Ardennes".