Tintin in Portugal

The Tintin Shop in Belém had put small Pastéis into the big ones to welcome the Tintin fans to the Lusiada University of Lisbon, on the 1st February 2019, to celebrate the 90th birthday of Tintin.

Our host, Senhor Oliveira da Figuera, alias Luis Castellano, and his charming wife Nathalie, welcomed us with local hospitality embellished with Tintin images on a screen, and Tintinophile lectures. The event was complemented by the singing of a beautiful Bianca Castafiore, accompanied by a pianist who could have been the cousin of the famous Igor Wagner.

The Belém Tintin Shop, located in La Junqueira Street, will soon be celebrating its first anniversary. Its typical azulejo facade testifies to the authenticity of the place. We were a stone's throw from the National Palace, the official residence of the President of the Portuguese Republic, and close to the fabulous Jerónimos Monastery.The area is full of museums and attractions:

The Maat: The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology The Museu Nacional dos Coches or The National Coach Museum The Cultural Centre of Belém which houses the Berardo Museum The Mosteiro dos Jerónimos or The Jerónimos Monastery with the Church of Santa Maria The Tower of Belém

The azure blue Tagus illuminates the city. Our hero rubs shoulders with many onlookers, joggers and Sunday rowers.

Tintin is proud of his new residence, just a stone's throw from the great city of Fado, in the footsteps of the great poet Fernando Pessoa and neighbourhoods with unforgettable names such as, Baixa, Chiado, Bairro Alto and Alfama.

Tintin was translated into Portuguese, and made his debut in the children's newspaper O Papagaio (The Parrot) in1935. LePortuguese was the first foreign language into which The Adventures of Tintin were translated. The stories were published in colour for the first time.The tones used were anything but natural, but it is paradoxically what makes them so charming today.

Besides the famous Oliveira (*), other Portuguese citizens appeared in Tintin’s adventures. A journalist in Tintin in the Congo, and a prominent professor in The Shooting Star.

© Hergé-Moulinsart 2019

On Friday, February 1st, some of them came to listen to Dominique Maricq, the globetrotting Belgian lecturer, and author of many books about Hergé and his work.

EnDominique spoke to an admiring crowd about Tintin’s first steps in the African savannah. Tintin left Antwerp in1930 and crossed the Portuguese coast, before visiting Tenerife and Central Africa.

(*) Senhor Oliveira da Figuera

Tintin meets this Lisbon merchant on the boat that welcomed him in the Red Sea (The Cigars of the Pharaoh). He is the ultimate salesman, able to sell the most incongruous objects while giving his "victims" the feeling of having made a good deal.

Tintin will meet him again in Wadesdah, Khemed, in Land of Black Gold and in The Red Sea Sharks where Tintin and the captain will request his hospitality. Senhor Olivera da Figuera still lives in Wadesdah...