Herge’s comic book hero made Tibet popular across the globe back in 1960
KATHMANDU: Five decades after Belgian author Hergé published his twentieth Tintin adventure, the Dalai Lama is going to honour it for introducing Tibet to the world.
Published in 1960, Tintin in Tibet, the story of the comic strip hero and ever-young reporter’s adventures in the then little-known land, was voted the greatest French-language graphic novel of all time in a poll of professionals.
It won the author, whose real name was Georges Remi, the posthumous Light of Truth award. The Dalai Lama will present the award to the Hergé Foundation in a ceremony at Brussels next month.
The award is instituted by the International Campaign for Tibet, a non-profit membership organisation working to promote human rights and democratic freedom for the people of Tibet.
Besides Hergé, the other recipient is South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
“We are particularly proud to honour Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Hergé Foundation for their longstanding support for Tibetan culture and the Tibetan people,” said Tsering Jampa, ICT executive director in Europe, in a statement issued from Amsterdam.
“For many, Hergé’s depiction of Tibet was their introduction to the awe-inspiring landscape and culture of Tibet, while Archbishop Tutu’s struggle against apartheid and injustice is an inspiration to Tibetans around the world.”
Tintin in Tibet tells the story of Tintin’s search for his friend, who goes missing in the Tibetan mountains after a plane crash.
Beijing, which claims Tibet is an inalienable part of China, tried to produce a Chinese version of the book in which Tibet was to be portrayed as part of the communist republic.
The effort was blocked in 2001 by the Herge Foundation that forced the recall of the Chinese language book in which the title had been unauthorisedly changed to Tintin in China’s Tibet.
A Tibetan language edition of the comic, on the other hand, was published without any trouble in 1994.
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