Although he had many projects, the character that captured the collective imaginary was Mafalda. Her comic strips were translated into more than 30 languages. Her fame is due both to the universality of the topics she discussed, and the light heartedness and humor with which she conveyed her message.
Mafalda was first published on September 29, 1964. Created by Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón, better known as Quino, the comic follows the travails of a precocious child from a middle-class family in San Telmo while offering biting social commentary along the way.
At a time when women tolked about getting married and having g children as their main objective Mafalda talked about getting an education being self sufficient and traveling before focusing on getting married and having a husband with money and having children.
Miguelito is a big-hearted yet self-catered innocent. Burocracia is her pet tortoise. Mafalda's parents met at university, but her mother dropped out when she got married and became a housewife, much to her daughter's dissatisfaction. Meanwhile, her father is an employee at a company.
Mafalda offers a portrayal of a typical middle-class Argentinean family. Her mother, a housewife with children, and her father, a weary office employee with little voice and financial struggles, gardens to distress.
Quino passed away in 2020, but his creation lives on. Mafalda’s comic strips have transcended their era, offering pertinent critiques that apply to contemporary society.
