The collection of dolls is permanently exhibited at Tourist information center, Zrinjski trg 14, Zagreb, Croatia.

Spanish translation by Zdravka Teresa Perinic de Bellofatto (2004)
Russian translation by Dmitry Vedushenko (2001)
Croatian translation by D. Z. (2002)

© 1999 by Ljeposlav Perinic (1922-2005) and Darko Zubrinic

I met Mr. Ljeposlav Perinic in the summer 1999 in Zagreb, after his friendly telephone call related to the famous Croatian Glagolitic Texte du Sacre in France. I learned an unusual story about his unique collection of more than 350 dolls in national costumes from over 120 countries, from all five continents. His invaluable collection contains dolls that he obtained as gifts from dignitaries, Kings, Queens, Emperors, Empresses, Presidents, First Ladies, Prime Ministers, Governors, etc. Among them are Pope Paul VI (the Vatican), Indira Gandhi (India), Carlos Menem (Argentina), G.A. Naser (Egypt), Grace Kelly (Monaco), Haile Selassie (Ethiopia), Farrah Diba Pahlavi – the First Lady of Iran, Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan), Konrad Adenauer (Germany), Queen Sofia of Spain, Mao Tse Tung (China), Dalai Lama (Tibet in China), Enver Hoxha (Albania), Moise Chombe (Kongo), then MAHARADJAHIRADSA MAHENDRA BIKRAM JANG BAHADUR SHAH SHAMBAHER JANG DEVA

(Nepal), Franjo Tudjman (Croatia), and many others.

How did he collect his dolls? Well, he simply wrote, and asked for dolls in national costumes. However, the story has deeper roots.

Video: Exposicion mundial de muñecas en Buenos Aires (1970)

Born in 1922 in Split (his mother was a Croat from Boka Kotorska, at that time in Croatia), Mr. Perinic was only six years old when his father took him to the funeral of Stjepan Radic in Zagreb, assassinated in the Yugoslav Parliament in Belgrade in 1928. There he was fascinated by a great variety of picturesque Croatian national costumes that thousands of people wore, among them also the Bokelj Mariners in their typical solemn costumes. This picture remained deeply rooted in his mind. In 1946 he had met Marija Prpic while working for Croatian radio in Austria. It was a time of many troubles. A group of people escaped (from communism and misfortune) and arrived in Austria to a refugee-camp. Marija was allowed by her parents to travel since her brother Jure Prpic was in the group. While in the refugee-camp Ljeposlav and Marija were married in a wooden chapel by a Catholic Priest accompanied by friends. In 1947 they arrived to Argentina.

Very unusual name Ljeposlav of Mr. Perinic was given to him according to the Greek pope Calistos, which is Ljeposlav in Croatian. He arrived to Argentina with a boat from Genova, with 2000 Croats, mostly intellectuals like himself, who managed to save their lives from the slaughter immediately after the WW2 (see the Way of the Cross). On his first job in Buenos Aires he carried sacs of cement weighing 60 kg, while until then the most difficult object he had to raise was his pen. To his amazement, he noticed that the cement was from Croatia, from his native Split. Afterwards he used to say: I arrived to Argentina in order to build it with Croatian cement…!

Before his mother arrived to visit them in Don Torcuato near Buenos Aires for the first time in 1957, he asked her to bring dolls in Croatian national costumes. It was to be her first appointment with her three grand-daughters. When they saw beautiful Croatian dolls, they asked their father: “Father, do other nations also have their national costumes?” “Of course”, was the answer. And the question was an impetus. Mr. Perinic came to a very original idea: to write letters to various statesmen and to ask them for dolls in their national costumes for his three daughters. As he said, “if I had only one boy among them, this idea probably would never come to me.” And indeed, having sent three requests, soon after a doll arrived from the first lady of Mexico – Mrs. Eva Samano de Lopez Mateos, then from Konrad Adenauer, the founder of the new German state. Argentinean president Levingston explained in his letter that the state budget did not provide for the cost of dolls.

On the above photo, exhibited here with kind permission of the Jet Set journal (Zagreb), you will notice a mistake. As I was informed by Mrs Zdravka, daughter of Mr Perinic (who knows all her dolls very well), this very beautiful doll is a gift from Queen Sofia of Spain, and not from C. Menem as written on the photo. By the way, did you know that in 1981 Queen Sofia opened Museu Krekovic in Palma de Mallorca, gallery of the famous Croatian painter Kristian Krekovic?

His rich correspondence contains more than 300 letters from various statesmen and outstanding personalities, which he keeps in five albums. An interesting letter came from David Dacko, president of the Central African Republic. He wrote that there are “no dolls in his country”, but thanks to Mr. Perinic’s idea they soon started to produce them, and now little girls in Central African Republic play with dolls.

When Mr. Perinic, still anonymous, collected already 78 dolls in 1965, he thought to stop writing letters, since he had a modest apartment, with insufficient space for so many dolls. But, then 79th doll arrived, a Swiss guardian from Pope Paul VI, together with Pope’s apostolic blessing for Mr Perinic’s family. Upon the initiative of a local Catholic priest, an exhibition of dolls was organized that achieved tremendous success. It was visited by 10,000 people, including several ambassadors in Buenos Aires. The first exhibition of dolls in history attracted newspapermen from “France Press,” “Reuters,” “United Press,” “The Associated Press.” That is how he became known as the King of Dolls. The name Rey de las muñecas (The King of Dolls) was given to him for the first time in Mexico. It is interesting that the Spanish language, which is spoken by about 350 million people, has been enriched by two new words due to dolls of Mr. Perinic:

• muñecologo (coined in Argentina), and
• muñecoteca mas grande del mundo (coined in Uruguay).

In the following years he had more than fifty exhibitions of his dolls in Argentina, the USA and Canada. Through these exhibitions he took advantage to promote Croatian culture, its folklore and music. When an exhibition was held in Santa Barbara in the USA, a Jewish doll was stolen, which was a gift from Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. The value of the stolen doll was estimated to 20,000 USD. Soon afterwards newspapers wrote about this exhibition and Golda Meir, having learned about the disappearance of the doll during the exhibition, sent another one to Mr. Perinic!

When Indira Gandhi payed an official visit to Argentina in 1968, she brought two gifts in her bag: one for Argentinean president and another for Mr. Perinic. Neil Armstrong, a famous American astronaut, the first man who walked on the Moon, answered to Mr. Perinic that he does not know of a doll in Texas that would deserve to be in his collection. It is interesting to say that G.A. Naser, president of Egypt, used to send his Christmas and New Year’s cards to Mr. Perinic regularly every year, until his tragic death.

It seems to be of interest to mention several answers that he obtained:

• French president Charles De Gaulle wrote that there was no doll in his palace that he could send.
• British Queen Elisabeth II answered that she does not send gifts to unknown persons.
• President of Surinam (at that time a Dutch colony in South America) John Henri Eliza Ferrier sent his signed photo instead of a doll.
• Mois Chombe (Kongo) started his letter with “Dear Madam Perinic”…
• The King of Swaziland in Africa answered that he has no dolls (and we know that he had 100 wives…)
• Perinic’s unique Empire has a doll from Queen Gyalmo of Sikkim. Sikkim is a little known kingdom in the Himalayas.

Zagreb, 10. August, 1999.  Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth the Queen Mother  Buckingham Palace   Your Majesty,   My name is Ljeposlav Perinic and I am a Croat, living since World War II. in Argentina. Now, I have been visiting my homeland for two months.   In newspapers I have read that Your Majesty is celebrating the birthday, so please accept my best wishes.   For more than thirty years I have been collecting dolls in national costumes from all over the world, and till now I have received dolls as presents from 158 world leaders (Kings, Queens, Emperors, Empresses, Presidents, First Ladies, Prime Ministers, Governors etc.). As Your Country is not represented in my collection, I am free to ask You for a favour to send me a doll or dolls in national costumes of Great Britain, to be represented in this world’s unique collection of dolls given by leaders. The dolls have been donated to Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb, Croatia.    Thank You in advance Your majesty  Sincerely Yours  Ljeposlav Perinic   Ljeposlav Perinic  (c.o. Milicic)  Vinogradska 13, 10000 Zagreb  Croatia

[Coat of Arms]  CLARENCE HOUSE  SW1A 1BA   17th August 1999   Dear Mr. Perinic,   Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother has asked me to thank you for your letter, and the birthday greetings you have sent to Her Majesty.   Although The Queen Mother was interested to read of your large collection of dolls, Her Majesty does not feel able to send you one. I am sorry to send you this reply, which may cause disappointment.   Yours sincerely,  [signature illegible: Jennifer Gordon Lem??]  Lady-in-Waiting

Mr Perinic wrote an article about a Croatian painter Kristian Krekovic, famous for his gallery in Palma de Mallorca (Perinic, Ljeposlav: Kristian Krekovic, pintor croata-peruano (1901-1985), Studia Croatica, Buenos Aires, volumen 100, ano 1986, página 27-3.). It is interesting that Krekovic portrayed several outstanding persons:

• Mahatma Gandhi,
• the English Queen (in 1938, upon her request),
• the royal family of Spain,
• and the royal family of Sweden.

On the left you can see a lovely gift from Grace Kelly, princess of Monaco. Mr. Perinic was a frequent guest on TVs in several countries: Argentina, Uruguay, the USA, Canada, Croatia. In an official bulletin issued by the United Nations (Information UNESCO, No. 540, September 1968) a whole page was devoted to his dolls, that were described in an article entitled United Nations in the Dolls. If you happen to stay in Croatian capital Zagreb for a while, don’t miss to see Mr. Perinic’s collection that he donated in 1991. It has been permanently exhibited in the center of Zagreb (Zrinjevac square 14, Tourist information center, quite near the Embassy of the USA) in 2000. Great merit for very complex and nontrivial transport of over 300 dolls from Hamilton, Canada, to Zagreb, have Anamarija Snajdar from Croatian Radio Sljeme, and Petar Milicic, nephew of Mr. Perinic.

The Vicar of the Croatian Parish in Ottawa, Canada, who financially supported the transfer, it is interesting to say – was Black. When he visited Zagreb, on the occasion of the first exhibition of dolls held there in 1991, he also payed a visit to the most famous sanctuary of Marija Bistrica (near Zagreb) to see the “Black Madonna”. On his return to Zagreb, he remarked to Mr. Perinic: The church was fantastic, it was packed with people, and what was very interesting, was that only the Madonna and me were black, while all the others were white!

The international exhibition EXPO ’67 held in Montreal in Canada had also a small pavilion full of dolls. It was Mr. Perinic’s pavilion where he exhibited his collection, unofficially called Croatian pavilion (it was also the sole exhibit of Argentina). He had numerous charitable exhibitions of his dolls, mainly for UNICEF children’s program. As an example, one of exhibitions of his dolls was organized in order to help children in Argentina suffering from leprosy. On another exhibition of dolls, funds gathered in this way sufficed to build a house in the children’s village in Garin, in the vicinity of Buenos Aires, directed by S.O.S. OPROVI Argentina. Here S.O.S. Children’s Village is a well known charitable international organization, founded by Hermann Gmeiner in 1949 in Austria. It is interesting that the building was named – CROACIA.

Eleonora Aimone, Argentinian poetesse and writer (born in Italy) wrote the following verses dedicated to the King of Dolls (published in Marulic, Zagreb, 6/1998):
 

El Rey de las muñecas    A Ljeposlav Perinic Saber de ti es remontar  al cielo de un amanecer soñado  Es trepar nubes de ilusión  y descender, con las manos llenas  de rizos y de tules bordados,  de zapatitos y faldas multicolores,  de cintas y monos labrados.  Saber de ti es volver a la infancia,  a mecer en nuestros brazos  la muñeca con bucles de oro, la de trenzas negras,  la vestida de harapos  o el soldadito con el sable en la mano.  Saber de ti es la certeza inefable  de haber encontrado un espacio  donde se detiene el tiempo,  un estanque de aguas claras,  un soplo de brisa perfumada,  un Edén de paz donde  un duende pasta su ternura  entre niños de porcelana…  y tu mirada.

Kralj lutaka    Ljeposlavu Perinicu Znati za tebe to je kao vinuti se  u visine zore u snu naslucene.  Lebdjeti po oblacima umisljaja  i sletjeti punih ruku  vezena finog tila i pramicak uvojaka,  cipelica i sarenih haljinica  uresenih vrpcama i masnicama.  Znati za tebe to je kao vratiti se u djetinjstvo  i na rukama ljuljati  lutku zlatnih uvojaka,  lutku crnih pletenica,  i onu u dronjcima,  ili pak malenog vojnika sa sabljom u ruci.  Znati za tebe to je kao neizrecivo pouzdanje  da smo naisli na mjesto  gdje se zaustavilo vrijeme,  vrelo bistre vode,  lahor mirisava povjetarca,  rajski vrt srece i mira  gdje duhovi secu sa svojim drazima  medu djecicom od porculana…  i tvojim zacaranim ocima.

Translated into Croatian by Ana Blazekovic.

From Mr. Perinic’s card: Kralj lutaka Rey de las Muñecas The King of Dolls König der Puppen Roi des poupées O Rei das boneçcas Korol’ kukol Ningyo no o Kralj otroskih punck Dockornas kung Melej habubot

Koning van de poppen Nukkien kuningas Wa-wa-wang Bubrigner takavor Re delle bambole Król zabawek Ri na mBabóg Malak al leaab Dukkernes konge Korol lalok Kral na kuklite Babák királya

O Vasilias tis kuklas Regele papusilor Bebekler krali Mburuvicha guazu mitacuña porá Panpiñen erregea Léliu koralius Král’ babik Puprego

For example, Mburuvicha guazu mitacuña porá is “the King of Dolls” in the language of Guarani indians in Paraguay. Here is the list of countries, dignitaries, their titles, and the corresponding numbers of dolls donated to Mr. Perinic’s collection (in Spanish):

1.	ALBANIA	Enver HODZA – 1954/85	Presidente	1
2.	ALEMANIA OCCIDENTAL	Konrad ADENAUER – 1962	Canciller	1
3.	ALEMANIA OCCIDENTAL	Kurt George KINSSINGER – 1968	Canciller	2
4.	ALEMANIA OCCIDENTAL	Wilhelmine LUBKE – 1964	Primera Dama	1
5.	ALEMANIA OCCIDENTAL	Gustav HEINEMANN – 1970	Presidente	1
6.	ALEMANIA ORIENTAL	Walter ULBRICHT – 1965	Presidente	7
7.	ANGOLA	Silverio MARQUEZ – 1966	Gobernador	1
8.	ANTILLAS HOLANDESAS	N. DEBROT – 1965	Gobernador	2
9.	ANTILLAS HOLANDESAS	Ciro. D. KROON – 1968	Primer Ministro	1
10.	ARABIA SAUDITA	Faisal Bin Abdul AZIZ – 1965	Rey	1
11.	ARGENTINA	Silvia Martorell de ILLIA (1965)	Primera Dama	2
12.	ARGENTINA	Gral. Jorge Rafael VIDELA – 1976/81	Presidente	2
13.	ARGENTINA	Juan Carlos ONGANIA – 1966/70	Presidente	2
14.	ARGENTINA	Ileana Maria BELL de LANUSSE – 1971/73	Primera Dama	2
15.	ARGENTINA	Carlos Saul MENEM – 1997	Presidente	1
16.	AUSTRIA	Stepan LASZLO	Obispo (Gradisca)	1
17.	AUSTRIA	Adolf SCHARF – 1957/65	Presidente	2
18.	AUSTRIA	Dr. Kurt WALDHEIM – 1986/92	Presidente	1
19.	BAHAMAS	Lynden O. PINDLING – 1973/92	Primer Ministro	1
20.	BANGLADESH	Bangabundhu Sheik MAUJIBUR RAHMAN – 1974	Primer Ministro	1
21.	BOLIVIA	Teresa C. de PAZ ESTENSORO – 1964	Primera Dama	2
22.	BRASIL	Gral Garrastazu MEDICI – 1969/74	Presidente	1
23.	BRASIL	Dulce FIGUEIREDO – 1979/85	Primera Dama	1
24.	BULGARIA	Todor ZIVKOV – 1971/89	Presidente	2
25.	CAMBOYA	Kossamak NEARIRAD – 1969	Reina	1
26.	CANADA	Lester PEARSON – 1963/68	Primer Ministro	2
27.	CANADA	S.M. HODGSON – 1969	Gobernador	2
28.	CEILAN	Dudley SENANAYAKE – 1965	Primer Ministro	1
29.	COLOMBIA	Carlos LLERAS RESTREPO – 1968	Presidente	1
30.	CONGO	Moises CHOMBE – 1965	Presidente	1
31.	COREA DEL SUR	Chung HEE PARK	Presidente	2
32.	COSTA RICA	Juan ORLICH – 1962	Presidente	1
33.	CROACIA	Marija PAVELIC – 1965	Primera Dama	1
34.	CROACIA	Franjo TUDJMAN – 1991	Presidente	2
35.	CHECOSLOVAQUIA	Anton NOVOTNY	Primer Ministro	1
36.	CHECOSLOVAQUIA	Ludvig SOBODA	Presidente	2
37.	CHILE	Lucia HIRIART de PINOCHET – 1973/90	Primera Dama	3
38.	CHILE	Eduardo PREI RUIZ-TAGLE – 1995	Presidente	1
39.	CHINA	Chan-Kai SHEK – 1964	Presidente	1
40.	CHINA	Mao Tse TUNG – 1966/69	Presidente	F
41.	CHIPRE	Archbishop MAKARIOS – 1972	Presidente	1
42.	DINAMARCA	Jens Otto KRAG – 1964	Primero Ministro	2
43.	ECUADOR	Carlos AROSEMENA – 1961/63	Presidente	1
44.	EGIPTO	Gamal Abdel NASSER – 1954/70	Presidente	1
45.	ESCOCIA	—	—	1
46.	ESCOCIA	John JOHNSTON – 1967	Mayor of Glasgow	1
47.	ESLOVENIA	Milan KUCAN – 1995	Presidente	6
48.	ESPAÑA	Gral. Francisco FRANCO – 1965	Presidente	2
49.	ESPAÑA	Sofia – 1996	Reina	1
50.	ESTADOS UNIDOS	Laurleen WALLACE	Gobernadora	6
51.	ETIOPIA	HAILE SELASSIE – 1968	Emperador	1
52.	Islas FIJI	Ratu K. K. T. MARA – 1968	Gobernador	1
53.	FILIPINAS	Evangelina MACAPAGAL – 1964	Primera Dama	1
54.	FILIPINAS	Imelda MARCOS – 1966	Primera Dama	2
55.	FINLANDIA	Urho KALEVA KEKKONEN – 1956/82	Presidente	1
56.	FRANCIA	Danielle MITTERAND – 1992	Primera Dama	2
57.	GRECIA	George ZOITAKIS – 1970	Regente	4
68.	GRECIA	Paul I – 1947/64	Rey	1
69.	GUATEMALA	Julio Cesar MENDEZ MONTENEGRO – 1966/70	Presidente	1
60.	GUATEMALA	Miguel YDIGORA FUENTES – 1958/63	Presidente	1
61.	HOLANDA	JULIANA – 1948/80	Reina	3
62.	HONDURAS	Gloria de LOPEZ ARELLANO – 1969	Presidenta	2
63.	HUNGRIA	Cyula KALLAI – 1967	Presidente	1
64.	INDIA	Indira GANDHI – 1968	Primer Ministro	1
65.	INDIA	Sarvapeli RADHAKRISHNAN – 1965	Presidente	1
66.	INDONESIA	Gral. SUHARTO – 1969	Presidente	10
67.	ITALIA	Giovani LEONE – 1972	Presidente	1
68.	ITALIA	Umberto II – 1965	Rey	3
69.	IRAN	Farah Diba PAHLAVI – 1966	Emperatriz	1
70.	IRLANDA	Sean LEMASS – 1964	Primer Ministro	1
71.	IRLANDA	Mary ROBINSON – 1997	Presidenta	1
72.	ISLANDIA	Oficina – 1992	Primer Ministro	1
73.	ISRAEL	Golda MEIR – 1969	Primer Ministro	1
74.	ISRAEL	Levi ESHKOL – 1973	Primer Ministro	2
75.	ISRAEL	Zalaman SAHAZAR – 1968	Presidente	1
76.	JAMAICA	Alejandro BUSTAMANTE – 1965	Primer Ministro	1
77.	JAPON	Eisaku SATO – 1964/1972	Primer Ministro	1
78.	JORDANIA	HUSSEIN I – 1963	Rey	2
79.	JORDANIA	Noor AL HUSSEIN – 1993	Reina	1
80.	LEBANON	Suleiman FRANGIEH – 1971	Presidente	2
81.	LIBERIA	Anthoinete TUBMAN	Primera Dama	1
82.	LIECHTENSTEIN	Franz Joseph II – 1965	Principe	1
83.	LUXENBURGO	Enrique 1968	Principe	1
84.	MACEDONIA	Ivan MIHAJLOV	Lider	1
85.	MACAO	Antonio Adriano FARIA LOPEZ DOS SANTOS – 1966	Gobernador	1
86.	MALASIA	Ismail NASIRUDDIN SHAH – 1967	Rey	2
87.	MALTA	Don MINTOFF – 1971	Primer Ministro	1
88.	MARTINICA	SENADO – 1965	—	1
89.	MARRUECOS	HASSAN II – 1970	Rey	2
90.	MEXICO	Eva SAMANO de LOPEZ MATEOS – 1962	Primera Dama	1
91.	MEXICO	Esther ZUNO DE ECHEVERRIA – 1970/76	Primera Dama	1
92.	MONACO	Grace KELLY – 1956/82	Princesa	1
93.	NEPAL	MAHARADJAHIRADSA MAHENDRA  BIKRAM JANGHADUR SHAH  SHAMBAHER JANG DEVA – 1965	Rey	2
94.	NICARAGUA	Gral. Roberto MARTINEZ – 1972	Presidente	3
95.	NICARAGUA	Ana Maria ALEMAN – 1997/2002	Primera Dama	2
96.	NORUEGA	Einar GERARDSHEN – 1965	Primer Ministro	1
97.	NORUEGA	Gro Harlem BRUNDTLAND – 1981	Primer Ministro	1
98.	PAKISTAN	Zulufikar ALI BHUTTO – 1971/1973	Presidente	1
99.	PAKISTAN	Benazir ALI BHUTTO	Presidente	1
100.	PAKISTAN	Benazir BHUTO – 1995	Presidenta	2
101.	PANAMA	Mireya MOSCOSO – 1999	Presidenta	3
102.	PARAGUAY	Gral. Alfredo STROESSNER – 1965	Presidente	1
103.	PERU	Gral. Juan VELASCO ALVERADO – 1968	Presidente	5
104..	PERU	Fernando BELAUNDE TERRI -1980/85	Presidente	1
105.	POLINESIA FRANCESCA	Aime GRIMALDI – 1965	Gobernador	1
106.	POLONIA	Henry JABLONSKI – 1972/85	Presidente	2
107.	POLONIA	Edward OCHAB – 1964	Presidente	2
108.	PORTUGAL	Antonio de OLIVEIRA SALAZAR – 1932/68	Primer Ministro	1
109.	PUERTO RICO	Roberto SANCHEZ VILELLA – 1966	Gobernador	1
110.	PUERTO RICO	Luis MUÑOZ MARIN – 1962	Gobernador	1
111.	PUERTO RICO	Luis A. FERRE – 1970	Gobernador	1
112.	PUERTO RICO	Pedro ROSSELLO – 1997	Gobernador	1
113.f	RUMANIA	Chivu STOICA – 1965	Presidente	6
114.	RUSIA	Nikolai PODGORNY – 1965/77	Presidente	15
115.	RUSIA	Anastas MIKOYAN – 1970	Presidente	3
116.	SAN MARINO	REGENT CAPITANS – 1969	Gobernadora	2
117.	SENEGAL	Leopold SEDAR SENGHOR – 1960/80	Presidente	1
118.	SIKIM	GYALMO – 1965	Reina	1
119.	SIRIA	Nureddin AL-ATASSI – 1968	Presidente	1
120.	SOMALIA	Louis SWAGETI – 1967	Gobernador	2
121.	SUDAFRICA	Jim FOUCHE – 1969	Presidente	1
122.	SUIZA	Hans SCHAFFNER – 1968	Presidente	1
123.	TAILANDIA	Sirikit KITYAKARA	Reina	1
124.	TAIWAN (CHINA NACION.)	Gral. Chiang KAI-SHEK – 1950/75	Presidente	1
125.	TIBET	DALAI LAMA – 1996	Lider Espiritual	1
126.	TUNEZ	Habib BURGUIBA – 1963	Presidente	1
127.	TURQUIA	Suat HAYRI URGUPLU – 1965	Presidente	2
128.	TURQUIA	Turgut OZAL – 1993	Presidente	1
129.	TRINIDAD/TOBAGO	Eric WILLIAMS – 1956/81	Primer Ministro	3
130.	TRINIDAD/TOBAGO	Saloman HOENOY – 1962/72	Gobernador	3
131.	UCRANIA	Jaroslav STETZKO	Presidente	1
132.	URUGUAY	Juan M. BORDABERRY – 1972/76	Presidente	1
133.	VATICANO	Pablo VI – 1964	Papa	1
134.	VENEZUELA	Raul LEONI – 1964/69	Presidente	2
135.	VENEZUELA	Menca F. de LEONI – 1965	Primera Dama	2
136.	VIETNAM DEL SUR	Gral. Dong van MINK – 1964	Presidente	1
137.	VIETNAM DEL SUR	Nguyen van THIEN – 1965/75	Presidente	2
138.	ex YUGOSLAVIA	Stjepan MESIC – 1991	Presidente	2

As we see, Nikolai Podgorny, president of Russia, donated 15 dolls: one from each of fifteen former Soviet republics. It is interesting that during an exhibition dolls held in the province of La Pampa in Argentina a Russian doll had disappeared. Calls from local radio were frequently broadcast during the whole day in order to find it, but in vain. Finally, a father of a 5 year old child brought it the next day, saying with excuses that he has found it in his car. Mr. Perinic is very proud that children stay very long at his exhibitions. Their parents just as well.

MEXICO:

 JAPAN:
A Japanese doll from the collection of the King of Dolls (Ljeposlav Perinić, 1922-205), kept in Zagreb’s
Ethnographic Museum. This doll has been donated in 1963 by the then
Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Eisaku Sato.

Here is a brief explanation provided by the courtesy of Yoko Nishii, Japanese pianist:

The doll represents a figure  figure from the No or Kabuki drama which is titled “REN JI SHI” (Father and Son Lion Dance). The actor of Father Lion (shishi) has white hair, while the actor of Son Lion (shishi) has red hair. Two entertainers dance a tale of the legendary shishi or lion-like spirits that live at the foot of a holy Buddhist mountain. Later, the shishi themselves appear and perform their dance with wild shaking of their long manes. The dance shows a parent shishi forcing his cub to undergo harsh training in order to grow up strong. This theme is often associated with the training which a parent actor gives his son.

COLLECCIÓN PERINIC – SIGLO XXI :

1.	REPUBLICA CHECA	Václav KLAUS	Presidente	1
2.	URUGUAY	Jorge Luis BATLLE IBÁNEZ	Presidente	2
3.	ANDORRA	Marc FORNÉ MOLNÉ	Primer Ministro	1
4.	CHILE	Ricardo LAGOS ESCOBAR	Presidente	2
5.	BARBADOS	Clifford HUSBANDS	Gobernador General	2
6.	LIBANO	Emile LAHUD – 2004	Presidente	4
7.	FILIPINAS	Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO	Presidente	4
8.	ARGENTINA (Provincia de San Luis)	Dr. Alberto RODRÍGUEZ SAA	Gobernador	1
9.	MÉXICO	Vicente FOX QUESADA	Presidente	8
10.	AZERBAIJAN	Ilham ALIYEV	Presidente	3
11.	RUSSIA	Vladimir PUTIN	Presidente	1
12.	GUYANA	Hon. Samuel HINDS	Primer Ministro	1
13.	SUIZA	H.E. Samuel SCHMID	Presidente	1
14.	MAURIZIO	H.E. Sarojini JUGNAUTH	Primera Dama	1
15.	ARGENTINA (Provincia de Santiago del Estero)	Dr. Gerardo ZAMORA	Gobernador	2
16.	ARGENTINA (Provincia de Corrientes)	Ing. Arturo Alejandro COLOMBI	Gobernador	1
17.	AFGHANISTAN	Dr. Zeenat KARZAI	Primera Dama	1
18.	ARGENTINA (Provincia de Entre Ríos)	Dr. Jorge Pedro BUSTI	Gobernador	2
19.	ARGENTINA (Provincia de Buenos Aires)	Ing. Felipe SOLÁ	Gobernador	2
20.	POLONIA	Dr. Lech KACZYNSKI	Presidente	1
21.	SINGAPORE	Mrs. Urmila NATHAN	Primera Dama	1
22.	JAMAICA	Mrs. Portia SIMPSON MILLER	Primer Ministro	1
23.	ESTONIA	Mr. Toomas Hendrik ILVES	Presidente	1
24.	CANADA (Provincia de Alberta)	The Hon Ed STELMACH	Premier	1
25.	ESPAÑA – Islas Baleares	Hon Francesc ANTICH i OLIVER	Presidente de Gobierno	1
26.	ESPAÑA – Extremadura	D. Guillermo FERNÁNDEZ VARA	Presidente de la Junta	2
27.	ESPANA – Castilla – La Mancha	D. José María BARREDA FONTES	Presidente de la Junta	6
28.	REPUBLICA DOMINICANA	Dr. Leonel FERNÁNDEZ REYNA	Presidente	1
29.	ARGENTINA (Provincia de Salta)	Dr. Juan Manuel URTUBEY	Gobernador	2
30.	ARGENTINA	Dra. Cristina FERNÁNDEZ de KIRCHNER	Presidente	1
31.	TAIWAN	H.E. Chang Chun-hsiung	Primer Ministro	2
32.	LETONIA	H.E. Valdis ZATLERS	Presidente	2
33.	MEXICO	S.E. Felipe CALDERON	Presidente	3
34.	ETHIOPIA	H.E. Girma WOLDE – GIORGIS	Presidente	1
35.	JORDANIA	H. M. Rania AL ABDULLAH	Reina	1
36.	ALEMANIA – Hessen	Herr Roland KOCH	Ministro Presidente	10
37.	ALEMANIA – Schleswig-Holstein	Herr Peter Harry CARSTENSEN	Ministro Presidente	1
38.	PERU	Dr. Yehude SIMON	Primer Ministro	1
39.	ARMENIA	H.E. Serzh SARKISYAN	Presidente	2
40.	ARGENTINA (Provincia del Chubut)	Dr. Mario DAS NEVES	Gobernador	3
41.	BRASIL – Estado de Mato Grosso	Ing. Blairo BORGES MAGGI	Gobernador	2
42.	BRASIL – Estado de Paraíba	Dr. José TARGINO MARANHAO	Gobernador	2
43.	HUNGRIA	Hon. Gordon BAJNAI	Primer Ministro	2
44.	BRASIL – Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul	Dr. André PUCCINELLI	Gobernador	1
45.	BRASIL – Estado de Pará	Arq. Ana Julia de VASCONCELOS CAREPA	Gobernadora	2
46.	CROACIA – Mali Lošinj	Ing. Gari CAPPELLI	Intendente	1
47.	CROACIA	Jadranka KOSOR	Primera Ministra	1
48.	CROACIA	Kardinal Josip BOZANIC	Arzobispo de Zagreb	5
49.	AUSTRALIA – New South Wales	Mrs. Kristina KENEALLY	Premier	1
50.	UCRANIA	D. Mykola AZÁROV	Premier Ministro	2
51.	CROACIA	Dr. Ivo Josipović	Presidente	2
52.	REPUBLICA POPULAR CHINA	Sr. HAN Mengtang	Consejero Cultural Embajada China	5
53.	COLOMBIA	Sra. María Clemencia RODRÍGUEZ de SANTOS	Primera Dama	2
54.	ECUADOR	Lic. Lenin MORENO GARCES	Vicepresidente	6
55.	CABO VERDE	Dr. Jorge Carlos FONSECA	Presidente	1
56.	VIETNAM	Lic. Le Thanh Xuan	Cónsul Embajada de Vietnam	1
57.	NICARAGUA	Sra. Norma MORENO SILVA	Embajadora Extraordinaria y Plenipotenciaria	2
58.	INDONESIA	Dra. Nurmala Kartini PANDJAITAN SJAHRIR	Embajadora Extraordinaria y Plenipotenciaria	12
59.	PARAGUAY	Lic. Rodolfo SERAFINI	Agregado Cultural Embajada de Paraguay	1
60.	RUMANIA	Embajada de Rumania en la República Argentina	Embajada de Rumania	10
61.	NIGERIA	Sr. Chive Ior KAAVE	Embajador	1
62.	ANGOLA	Sr. Hermínio Joaquim ESCORCIO	Embajador	1
63.	ESLOVAQUIA	Sr. Anton JURKOVIC	Cónsul Embajada de Eslovaquia	3
64.	FINLANDIA	Sr. Jukka SIUKOSAARI	Embajador	1
65.	GEORGIA	Sra. Nino PHIPHIA	Consejera	1
66.	COSTA RICA	Sr. Luis Guillermo SOLÍS	Presidente	2
67.	CROACIA	Sra. Kolinda GRABAR KITAROVIĆ	Presidente	1
68.	MONTENEGRO	Sr. Duško MARKOVIĆ	Primer ministro	1
69.	REPÚBLICA DE COREA	Sr. Jinsang JANG	Agregado Cultural Embajada	2
70.	HONDURAS	Sra. Ivonne BONILLA de DÍAZ	Embajadora	1
71.	GUATEMALA	Sr. Roque A. ARRIAGA MARTINEZ	Cónsul Embajada	1
72.	BOLIVIA	Lic. María Nélida ACUÑA	Primer Secretaria Emb.	3

Teresa Perinić de Bellofatto receiving beautiful dolls from Mr. Jinsang Jang, cultural attache of the Republic of Corea.


Teresa Perinić de Bellofatto (2018.): Kada smo bili u U.S.A, moj bratić Francek, sin od moga ujaka Jure Prpića, darovao mi je 4 lutke – indianke. I kada sam bila u Ushuaiu, gdje živi moja kćerka, upoznala sam gospođu Amandu Beban, jako poznatu tamo. Ona je izlagala svoje lutke u “Muzeju na kraja svijeta”. Izlagala je samo 350 lutaka od 1.000 što ih ima. Ona mi je darovala 3 lutke.

• Estados Unidos: Frank Prpić, 4 indian dolls, 2018.
• Cuba: Amanda Beban, 2018.
• Suecia: Amanda Beban. 2018.
• Thailandia: Amanda Beban, 2018.
• Guatemala: Sr. Roque A. Arriaga Martinez, 49 Muñequitos Quitapenas, 2019.
  

Chinese dolls Fuwa, official dolls of the 2008 Olympic Games in Bejing: their names are 
Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini.

Two Armenian dolls in national costumes donated by H.E. Mr. Serzh Sarkirsyan, president of the Republic of Armenia, to Mrs. Teresa Perinic de Bellofatto, Buenos Aires, Argentina. For more information see Croatia – Armenia.

The doll representing Armenia, donated to Mr. Ljeposlav Perinić
by Armenian community in Argentina in 1969. Source of the photo: Perinic collection.

Many thanks to Mrs. Teresa Perinić, Croatian living in Buenos Aires, daughter of the King of Dolls, for sending me these photos of the dolls that she got as a gift in 2011 from Mr Han Mengtang, attaché of cultural affairs at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Argentina.

In 2017, in Don Torquato, a town near Buenos Aires (where The King of Dolls once lived), 90 years
of its existence was celebrated, on which occasion Teresa Perinic de Bellofatto
prepared an invited exhibition of selected dolls:

Don Torquato press reported about an old exhibtion of the King of Dolls, Ljeposlav Perinic, in 1960s.

It is worth mentioning that during the exhibition held in 1969 in the town of Las Heras in the province of Buenos Aires, as many as 9,500 inhabitants out of 10,000 visited the exhibition, i.e., 95%! During the opening ceremony the Croatian National Anthem Lijepa Nasa (Our Beautiful) was sang by a choir composed of 60 children.

What is a doll? See a very nice essay written by Ivanka Ivkanec: ENOVY

Since 1991 Mr. Perinic has obtained new dolls from the following countries:

1. Island, Prime Minster’s office, 1992
2. France, Danielle Mitterand, a doll in Breton national costume, 1992
3. Turkey, president Turgut Ozal, 1993
4. Jordan, queen Noor al Husein, 1993
5. Spain, Jordi Pujol, president of Catalonia, 3 dolls, 1994
6. Chile, President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, 1995
7. Spain, Pedro Sanz Alonso, president of La Rioja (Canary islands, Tenerife), 1995
8. Spain, Valencia, Joaquin Puig Ferrer, 1995
9. Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, president, 2 dolls, 1995
10. Slovakia, Juraj Cvecko, president of the Croatian cultural union in Slovakia, a doll from Hrvatski Grob, 1995
11. Spain, Mrs. Carmen Gomez, Madrid, donated her private collection of 47 dolls in national costumes to Mr. Perinic. The dolls are from Spain, Portugal, Luxemburg, France (Alsace), Denmark, England, the Vatican, Austria, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Haiti, Brasil, Equador, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Israel (Sabra), Marocco, Egypt. This valuable collection arrived by diplomatic mail to Zagreb in 1996. It occured as a result of an accidental encounter of Mr. Perinic with Mrs. Gomez during his pilgrimage to Lourdes, France.
12. Slovenia, president Milan Kucan, 6 dolls
13. Puerto Rico, Pedro Rossello, el Gobernador de Puerto Rico, 1997
14. Tibet, Dalai Lama (Spiritual leader of Tibetan people and laureate of Nobel prize for peace)

1. ARMENIA Colectividad Armenia en Argentina
2. CROACIA (Posavina) Nevenka MILICIC 1
3. CROACIA Unión Eslovena en U.S.A. 2
4. CROACIA (Koprivnicko Krizevacka Zupanija) Ivan STANCER Gobernador 1
5. CROACIA (Split) Nadan VIDOSEVIC Gobernador 2
6. CROACIA (Split) Bozena MARTINCEVIC Artista 3
7. CROACIA (Zagreb, Trnje) Mira BREBIC Artista 2
8. CROACIA Unión Croata en Argentina 8
9. CROACIA (Sestine) Branco MIKSA Intendente 1
10. CROACIA (Medjimurje) Marijan RAMUSCAK Gobernador 2
11. CROACIA (Slavonski Brod) Jozo METER Gobernador 2
12. CROACIA (Krapina/Hrvatsko Zagorije) Bozidar BRUDNIC Gobernador 5
13. CROACIA (Resnik) Maja KOVACIC Artista 1
14. CROACIA (Konavle/Dubrovnik) ¿? Gobernador 5
15. CROACIA (Ston) ¿? Gobernador 2
16. CROACIA (Pozega) Anto BAGARIC Gobernador 2
17. CROACIA (Gornja Stubica/Krapina) ¿? Gobernador 2
18. CROACIA (Lipik) Stjepan HORVAT Intendente 1
19. EL SALVADOR Maybelline Escalante-ten Hoopen 1
20. ESLOVAQUIA Unión Eslovaca en Argentina 2
21. ESLOVAQUIA Juraj CVECKO (Presidente Unión Cultural Croata) 1
22. ESLOVENIA Unión Eslovena en U.S.A. 2
23. ESTONIA Unión de Estonia en Argentina 1
24. ESPAÑA (Valencia) Joaquín PUIG FERRER Gobernador 2
25. ESPAÑA Carmen GOMEZ 47
26. ESPAÑA (Galicia) Xunta de Galicia – Manuel FRAGA IRIBARNE Gobernador 2
27. ESPAÑA (Cataluña) Jordi PUJOL Gobernador 3
28. ESPAÑA (La Rioja/Tenerife) Pedro SANZ ALONSO Gobernador 1
29. LETONIA Unión Letona en Argentina 1
30. LITUANIA Unión Lituana en U.S.A. 1
31. NUEVA ZELANDIA Obitelj VERTES 1
32. YUGOSLAVIA (Subotica) Matica Croata 1

We are glad and proud to announce that the first doll for The King of Dolls’ collection that arrived in the 21st century (and in the third millennium) came from the Czech Republic, in a very nice national costume, and with the accompanying letter signed by His Excellency Mr. Vaclav Klaus, president of the state:

Also dolls from various parts of Croatia have been donated: Zagreb, Sinj, Split, Prigorje, Posavina, Sestine, Podravina, Pozega, Krapina, Dubrovnik, Ston, Brod, Medjimurje, Lipik.

Bibliography of Ljeposlav Perinic, Lexicon of the Croats in Argentina.

e-mail: Zdravka Teresa Perinic de Bellofatto This web page has been prepared by Darko Zubrinic in cooperation with Mr. Perinic in September 1999.

KADA BI LUTKE GOVORILE…
lecture delivered by Mr Perinic for Croatian community in Argentina and Canada

Video:A short story about the King of Dolls by Croatian TV

Perinić Collection

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