The comic character Mafalda turns 60, but will forever remain a child

In September, a comic character turns 60, but will forever remain a child . Her name is Mafalda and to this day she is popular and loved not only in her native Argentina, but also throughout Latin America and also in European countries led by Spain. Stories about her have been translated into dozens of languages, reports BNR.

Mafalda creator Joaquin Salvador Lavado Tejón used his childhood nickname Kino to distinguish himself from his uncle, the illustrator Joaquin.

In 2014, Kino received the greatest possible recognition in Spain - the Prince of Asturias Award, the Spanish version of the Nobel Prize.

About his most famous character - Mafalda, who is among the characters connecting children and adults with the world we live in, Savina Spasova tells about the show "Summer Nights". with Zornitsa Bliznashka and Maria Petrova.

"How nice it would be to wake up one morning and see that your life actually depends on you," says Mafalda. Her image was born when the artist Kino prepared an advertising campaign for household electrical appliances in 1962. However, then the future star never saw the light of day, and that is why its creator associated her birth with September 1964, when it appeared in the magazine "First Page".

Mafalda is a 6-year-old girl from a middle-class family. He lives in a famous neighborhood of Buenos Aires and is excited about topics such as school, vacations and happiness, but also about democracy, wars, politics.

He comments on all kinds of problems - global hunger, racism, the position of women in society with a special view of the world - both innocent and merciless.

The father is an insurance agent, the mother is a housewife, constantly busy only with her duties at home, to which Mafalda asks a question:
"What would you like to be if you had a real life?".

The name of the baby girl was chosen by Kino in honor of his mother.

From the stories told in more than 2,000 publications over 10 years, it is understood that Mafalda has a little brother Guillaume, and also friends - Manolito, Miguelito, Felipe, Susanita and Liberta - a Freedom that is like Mafalda, but more radical.< br />
He also has a pet - a turtle. It is called Bureaucracy because it is very slow and sluggish.

Curious, intelligent, critical, Mafalda influenced several generations of readers, becoming a symbol of childhood and rebellion, of the freedom to ask out loud where the world is going.
When tasked with wiping the globe, she replies:

"Do I clear all countries or just the ones with bad governments?"

Argentinians see her as a clear-eyed commentator on current events, unencumbered by fears and prejudices.

Although sometimes it seems that even she loses hope for the world:

"I love humanity. But I'm worried about the people".

Mafalda quickly gained popularity in the society from newspapers and magazines. Her image spread to other Latin American countries. Soon it crosses the ocean and becomes famous and beloved in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Greece and other countries.

For the ten years that the comics have been published, countless followers have joined the "Mafalda" club. And they were all very disappointed when at the end of June 1973 she ended her "active creative activity".

Kino says he stopped drawing her because he ran out of ideas.

On the other hand, the end of the stories with her is the beginning of her mythologizing.

In the years after 1973, the events in honor of Mafalda and its creator Kino did not stop. In addition, the small, bright and rebellious girl becomes an object of study by sociologists and philosophers.

There is one very important aspect of Mafalda's image - she does not like soup at all, and this is particularly symbolic because it is a metaphor for the Argentine dictatorship.

"Soup?! Just today, when I'm in such a good mood, you want me to eat soup!?", she says.

The results of a study among Argentine children from 7 to 11 years old - regular readers of Mafalda, that only 5 percent of them like soup - are curious. There are also groups of cooks determined to find a recipe that the little girl will approve of.

Vibrant, current and popular, in 1976 Mafalda was chosen by UNICEF to speak at the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Kino participated in the creation of animated series for Mafalda.

Her image still continues to be used in human rights campaigns in Argentina and around the world. She is worried about the direction in which humanity is developing, and in her own way, invariably positive, she tries to solve the problems she sees around her.

They also love her because of universal human messages devoid of political subtext:

"I need to lose another kilo, I know, but what can I do if I don't like to lose!"

Kino, who died at the age of 88 in 2020, compared the onset of old age to a coup and a dictatorship that, upon coming to power, begins to forbid you the things you love - eating, drinking, moving.

In his later years, he thought he had long since lost control of Mafalda, who had a life of her own. And that at the end of his life the situation is the same and even worse than in the 60s and 70s. Our characters were very connected to reality, now the characters are too fantastic, he added.

He was welcomed by many children in 2014 in Spain when he received the Prince of Asturias award.

With his inherent modesty, Kino admitted that he did not understand the admiration of his most famous character among modern generations. And with his familiar bitter humor, he wished that these wonderful children would not become the corrupt politicians of the future.

For 10 years now, there has also been a statue of Mafalda in Oviedo - over 10 thousand kilometers from the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires, where it was the first.

A host of Spanish public television summarized:
"Like other heroes, Mafalda has not lost her power. It is universal because of the depth of the messages of its author Kino, which after so many years are still relevant".
"Excuse me, am I talking to the dream factory? Please can you send me all the happiness in the world for my friends?" - a quote from Mafalda, who continues to seethe with good energy for the fate of the world and recommends starting each day with a smile.