Croatia and the King of Dolls

Profile: The King of Dolls by Ljeposlav Perinic (1922-2005) I love looking at other people’s collections and doll museums. The Internet makes it possible to visit hundreds of collections 24/7. Flickr, Facebook Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, URLs and Web Museums are all there at your fingertips. With all these options, it’s possible to find museums you’ve never heard of before. One of these is the website from “Croatian History.net.” Mr. Perinic had a unique method for collecting dolls; he simply wrote to the representatives of various countries and asked that dolls be sent to him. He ended up with a collection of over 350 dolls in national costume from over 120 countries and 5 continents. When he was six, Perinic attended with his after a funeral of a slain national hero and was entranced by the many Croatian national costumes that thousands of mourners wore. In 1947, Perinic and his wife Marija moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. When, after ten years, Perinic’s mother was about to visit Argentina, her son asked her to bring dolls in Croatian national costume. By that time, the Perinics had three daughters who fell in love with the beautiful dolls. They asked their father if other countries also had dolls dressed in national costumes, and a museum collection was born! Soon, Mr. Perinic had the idea of writing representatives of various international governments to ask for dolls. As a result of his first request, the first lady of Mexico at the time, Sra. Eva Samano de Lopez Mateos sent a doll, as did Konrad Adenauer, founder of “the new German state.” Accompanying the dolls are five albums containing over 300 letters from various heads of states and celebrities who answered Perinic. Among those who responded were Queen Sofia of Spain, David Dacko, president of the Central African Republic, Pope Paul VI, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, Charles de Gaulle, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Gyalmo of Sikkim, Princess Grace of Monaco, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Lester Pearson of Canada, Chairman Mao Tse Tung, Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus, Chan Kai Shek of Taiwan, Mayor Jake Johnston of Glasgow, President Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt, Queen Juliana of The Netherlands, King Umberto II of Italy, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos, Mme. Danielle Mitterand First Lady of France, King Paul I of Greece, The Shah of Iran, King Hussein, Queen Noor al Hussein of Jordan, First Lady of Liberia Antoinette Tubman, King Hassan II of Morocco, Indira Gandhi, The Dalai Lama, President Nicolai Podgorny of the old USSR and many more. Not all sent dolls. The Queen of England sent a letter stating she did not send dolls to unknown people, even though there is a Royal doll collection, and a host of dolls and toys including Queen Mary’s Dollhouse. The president of the Central African Republic stated at first there were no dolls in his country, but he became inspired, and The Central African Republic began to make dolls so little girls could play with them. The Internet article includes a chart of all who sent dolls, their country, and rank. Some countries sent more than one doll. There are also beautiful thumbnails of many of the dolls from the collection. Eventually, the dolls became a small museum, displayed all over the world, including a pavilion at Expo ’67. In 1969, the dolls were displayed in Argentina were Mr. Perinic was living, in the town of Las Heras, province Buenos Aires. The article estimates that 9,500 people out of the 10, 000 person population visited. Dolls were added to the collection in 1991 from Iceland, France, Turkey, Jordan, Spain, Chile, Pakistan [by Benazir Bhutto], and Slovakia, along with more dolls from Croatia. According to CROWN, Croatian World Network, the dolls are now displayed in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb. http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/9901/1/Ljeposlav-Perinic-1922-2005-the-King-of-Dolls.html