Aime De Mesmaeker

Aime De Mesmaeker , generally only called Mr. De Mesmaeker , is a character of the cartoon Gaston Lagaffe .

Presentation

Rich person businessman, one does not know exactly the role of his company (one knows however thanks to the heading of a letter only it makes " wholesale businesses "), simply that it must sign an important contract (of which the terms remain fuzzy for the reader) with the Journal of Spirou.

Only, to each time it goes to Spirou to sign them with Fantasio then Prunelle (even Boulier), a blunder of Gaston arrives irremediably that it is before the signature (often at the expense of the physical integrity of Mesmaeker) or after (causing the destruction or the disappearance of the signed contract).

Of an austere and severe aspect, it often sometimes happens to him nevertheless to crack vis-a-vis the blunders of Gaston whom it regards as a provocation on behalf of the newspaper of Spirou. Gradually, the only vision of Gaston seems to become source of aggravation for him. Curiously, it continues despite everything to return each time for retenter to sign the contracts (sometimes thorough by Fantasio or Pupil).

Ironically, the only contracts which it succeeds in signing it are with Gaston (whom it however regards as a young hooligan). He thus signs two sale contracts for the inventions of Gaston: first once for the receipt of its vegetable soup and a second for its clock in form of capsule Apollo. To note that Gaston manages also to make him sign truths contracts without hangs, it is only afterwards that it realizes that it has to him, in fact, makes sign the documents of the automobile chronicle of the newspaper.

One knows little of it about his life apart from work but it is known that it has two girls whose elder one, according to him, rolls only in Alfa Romeo. To note that his wife is represented once in a dinner with this one.

The first name of Mr De Mesmaeker, Aime, is revealed only rather tardily in the series.

Origin

De Mesmaeker is the family name of Jidéhem = J.D.M = Jean De Mesmaeker, collaborator regular of Franquin. It was by chance which Jidehem called to Franquin that this character resembled his father much.

The anecdote is all the more amusing that true Mr. De Mesmaker was commercial and that with the growing popularity of Gaston, it was increasingly difficult for him to be made take with serious at the time to sign the contracts.

So De Mesmaeker means manufacturer of Dutch knives, the name would mean " maker of dégâts" (mess maker) in English, which supplements a homogeneous trio of names with that of the main character (Lagaffe), and that of his friend Bertrand Labévue.

Mr. De Mesmaeker would be to some extent a second anti-Gaston (Fantasio being the first).

Anecdote

In the album N°4 (Placid Uncle) of Benoit Brisefer, whereas the controller of the train makes throw all the luggage of the train by the window one sees Mr. Mesmaeker to howl with the controller " My contracts! signed! in my bag! by the window! RRAAH!! "

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