Presentation of the World-Famous Comics Book The Adventures of Tintin Reporter for “Le Petit Vingtième” in the Land of the Soviets by Belgian Cartoonist Hergé in Ukrainian

23 October 2019

On October 23, at 11:00, the world-famous Belgian comics series The Adventures of Tintin Reporter for “Le Petit Vingtième” in the Land of the Soviets was presented in Ukrinform.

The Holodomor Museum, in cooperation with the PNZL Publishing House and the Anne de Kyiv Fest International Arts Festival presented the 1929 edition of the Hergé’s comic book in Ukrainian.

Tintin is Europe’s first comic book character and Belgium symbol. Throughout the twentieth century, all of Europe was getting the knowledge about the Universe from the adventures of a young Belgian reporter. The 24-book series began with an album about the Soviet Union and its totalitarian regime, including famine and collectivization. The cult character of Belgian and European culture witnessed the famine of 1921–23 in Ukraine.

For the first time Ukrainians saw an album at the Book Forum in Lviv. On October 23, 2019, a presentation took place in Kiev.

The speakers of the press conference were:

  • Alex Lenaerts – Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Ukraine;
  • Fedir Balandin –Chief Curator of the Anne de Kyiv Fest International Arts Festival;
  • Nina Lapchynska – Deputy Director of the Holodomor Research Institute;
  • Ivan Riabchii – translator, director of Pinsel Publishing House.

The event was attended by Yurko Pozaiak, editor of the publication, and Sashko Komiakov, author of the font.

Alex Lenaerts: “It’s not just an entertaining comic book; it’s a source of important historical information. It is no accident that the translation of the Tintin series began with this book, because it is your country’s history. The book shows the Soviet regime from confiscation of property to persecution of journalists. This edition clearly enhances Belgian-Ukrainian relations.”

Fedir Balandin: “Publishing a book in Ukraine is not a story about commerce. This is a history of compromises between embassies and publishers, because it was important for us to see a book that the whole world knows about as well.”

Nina Lapchynska: “The Holodomor in the twentieth century was talked about by some people. Tintin ridicules the propaganda lie. Having visited Ukraine, the hero wonders why people did not rebel, why the genocide took place in Ukraine. This book is history. ”

In the framework of a joint project, a series of lectures will be held at the Holodomor Museum. During November and December, anyone can attend lectures from the Ambassador of Belgium to Ukraine, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Belgium, film director Oles Sanin, writer Oleksandr Irvanets, film producer Yehor Oliesov, poet and editor of the Tintin album Yurko Pozaiak, translator Ivan Riabchii, curator of “Anne de Kyiv Fest” festival Fedir Balandin. Follow the announcements of lectures on the official pages of the museum and the publishing house.

The publication began the Tintin epic in Ukraine and is one of the most significant book projects of 2019–2020. Important partners and promoters of the project are the Embassy of Belgium in Ukraine and the Embassy of Ukraine in Belgium, the French Institute in Ukraine.

You can see the full presentation of the project here. We talked more about the publication in the announcement.