In other current events involving Hungary and its regional frenemies, the death of a famous and beloved Hungarian puppeteer yesterday was cruelly overshadowed by the passing on the same day of a far more famous and beloved Czech cartoonist.
Henrik Kemény, who continued the century-plus tradition of his family by designing and carving marionettes for small audiences of restless Hungarian children at traveling puppet shows, died at the age of 87 within hours of the death of Zdeněk Miler, the 90-year-old creator of the cartoon character loved by generations of Hungarians of all ages as “Kisvakond,” or “little mole,” and millions more around the world, and even beyond, as a stuffed “Krtek” was brought along by an American astronaut on the second to last U.S. space shuttle fight apparently on the urging of his no-doubt-blonde Czech-American wife. Oh, and isn’t Prague just soooo much more lovely than Budapest? Grrrr! [reuters.com/magyarhirlap.hu]
