Old rumours...

As the English version of Hergé's biography by Pierre Assouline is about to be published next month, old rumours about

the creator of Tintin have resurfaced. One of them presents Hergé as a racist and anti-Semite. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even Mr. Assouline confesses in his book that Hergé wasn't an anti-Semite, and the few caricatures he made have to be considered in the historical context of Belgium in the Thirties.

The definitive Hergé biography, written by Philippe Goddin (2007), provides enough evidence to disprove these "accusations". Unfortunately, this book is currently only available in French and Dutch. In recent years, many testimonies and interventions have been made in support of Hergé. Some time ago, Abraham Foxman, speaking on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League, said: "unfortunately many creative people were infected by the disease of anti-Semitism, but it didn't overtake Hergé". Steven Spielberg's spokesman insists on the danger of anachronisms when we talk "about 50 or 60 years ago when the world was very different".

These malevolent allegations towards an author are of the same kind of accusations against caricaturists working in the free world.

The contents of the Hergé Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium, prove that Hergé was sincerely committed to the causes of minorities, democracy and human rights. Please go to the tintin.com journal. You'll find a feature about Henri Dendoncker, a young Belgian who became an Intelligence Service hero during the Second World War, and whose conduct was directly inspired by Tintin and the values he has represented over the years.