Hugo van der Ding was born in the late 1970s off the Bay of Biscay, during a trip between Amsterdam and Lisbon, and grew up in a hippie community on the outskirts of Montpellier. He studied History of Oriental Decorative Arts, specializing in origami geese. In 2012, he gave up his academic career to draw on social media. After the success of A criada malcriada (The Naughty Maid), he no longer needed to work. He still writes regularly for magazines and newspapers, is the author of some books and podcasts, occasionally does theater and television and continues to share his drawings on social media. Since 2019, he has been one of the presenters of the Manhãs da 3, a radio show on Antena 3 station.