Artworks Honor Earth’s Only Astrocat Félicette’s Oct. 18, 1963, Flight

Summary: Various artworks honor Earth’s only astrocat Félicette’s Oct. 18, 1963, flight, as the brave feline’s unique journey inspires 21st century artists.

beret-wearing Félicette and caped Félicette, both perched atop rockets, by, respectively, Jerome and Ethan, fifth graders at Christ the King Elementary School, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, northwestern Canada: CBC As It Happens @cbcasithappens, via Facebook Dec. 3, 2017

Various artworks honor Earth’s only astrocat Félicette’s Oct. 18, 1963, flight, as 21st century artists draw inspiration from the brave feline’s unique journey to space and safe return to Earth.

Matthew Serge Guy’s discovery of Félicette’s unique journey occurred while he was positioned as Creative Director (February 2017-January 2019) in the London office of Anomaly, an advertising and marketing services agency founded in New York City in 2004. The office’s staff kitchen had a tea towel commemorating “the 50th anniversary of the first cat in space.” Made of “100% Soviet cotton,” the tea towel was labelled as “Fabricated in the USSR.” The word “gorgeous” headed images of a blazing rocket amid a starry sky, a bicolor cat and globe flanked with the dates 1967 and 2017.

The tea towel, however, erred in depictions and dates. Félicette’s coat was black and white, not reddish brown and white. Her historical accomplishment, as Earth’s first and only astrocat, took place in 1963, not in 1967. Liftoff from France’s launch site near Hammaguir in northwestern Algeria happened Friday, Oct. 18. The 50th anniversary of Félicette’s spaceflight occurred in 2013, not in 2017.

At the time, Guy did not know the actualities of Félicette or of her accomplishment. The tea towel’s impact was fascination, impelling him to seek more details. His pursuit of Félicette’s story ultimately led him to global crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to fund a memorial statue for the brave feline. Guy launched his project, “A statue to Félicette, the first cat in space,” with a month-long funding period, beginning Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. The fundraising successfully ended Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, with a total of £43,323 contributed by 1,141 backers.

Backer appreciation was expressed with pledge level-specific rewards. Ten-pound pledgers received a replica of Félicette’s official portrait, with a paw print and captioned: “Merci pour votre participation à mon succès du 18 Octobre 1963” (Thanks for your participation in my success on Oct. 18, 1963).

Pledgers of £25 to £6,000 or more received customized artwork in addition to Félicette’s official portrait. At £25 and up, a pair of enamel badges depicted Félicette with a fishbowl space helmet and a newspaper, Daily Mews, announcing “Space cat back alive,” an actual headline from The Sydney Morning Herald’s Oct. 20, 1963, issue. London-based illustrator Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy provided portraits of Félicette, on tote bags and as screenprints, for pledges of £40 and up.

A communal plaque at the memorial site will list all pledgers of £250 pounds or more. Pledgers of £6,000 or more are entitled to a 30-centimeter (11.8-inch) replica of the memorial’s bronze statue.

Guy plans for a full-size statue, approximately 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in height, depicting Félicette atop a rocket. Gloucestershire-based horse and wildlife sculptor Gill Parker is expected to cast the bronze sculpture.

Emily Macht, fifth grade teacher at Christ the King Elementary School in Whitehorse, Yukon, northwestern Canada, learned about Félicette by way of As It Happens, a Canadian interview show airing on Canada’s CBC Radio One. Co-host Carol Off interviewed Matthew Guy Nov. 14, 2017. Emily Macht shared Félicette’s story and Guy’s proposed memorial with her students, who, in turn, wanted to create their own memorials in clay for the heroic feline. The students’ clay models include mission-related paraphernalia, such as commemorative plaques and rockets. Félicette is envisioned in various postures and even is clothed with a beret or with a superhero cape.

Pennsylvania-based artist and graphic novelist Kathryn Briggs describes herself as a “maker of arty comics.” She includes in her portfolio a pen-and-ink A5 print of Félicette. Her artwork portrays Félicette with her rocket against a starry background.

Prior to the 21st century, Félicette found artistic expression in postal art. In the 1990s three African countries (Chad, Comoros, Niger) depicted Earth’s only astrocat on postage stamps. Félicette’s historic launch took place in North Africa’s northwestern Algeria.

The takeaways for artworks honoring Earth’s only astrocat Félicette’s Oct. 18, 1963, flight are that 21st–century artists memorializing the courageous cat range from fifth graders in Canada to an illustrator in London to an arty comics creator in Pennsylvania and that in the preceding century 1990s postage stamp art of three African countries commemorated Félicette’s North African launch.

Kathryn Briggs’ depiction of Félicette recalls the brave feline’s official portrait, but delicately absents the electrode that somewhat noticeably capped Félicette’s skull: Kathryn Briggs @withryn, via Twitter Nov. 27, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

beret-wearing Félicette and caped Félicette, both perched atop rockets, by, respectively, Jerome and Ethan, fifth graders at Christ the King Elementary School, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, northwestern Canada: CBC As It Happens @cbcasithappens, via Facebook Dec. 3, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/cbcasithappens/posts/1524432640937218

Kathryn Briggs’ depiction of Félicette recalls the brave feline’s official portrait, but delicately absents the electrode that somewhat noticeably capped Félicette’s skull: Kathryn Briggs @withryn, via Twitter Nov. 27, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/withryn/status/935118306872315905

For further information:

As It Happens ‏@cbcasithappens. “A Yukon teacher heard our story about the campaign to honour the first cat in space. What her Grade 5 students did next is amazing http://www.cbc.ca/1.4428323 #felicette.” Twitter. Dec. 1, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/cbcasithappens/status/936753100039303168

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CBC As It Happens @cbcasithappens. “Remember our interview about Felicette and the campaign to honour the first cat in space? A teacher in Whitehorse heard that interview when she was driving in her car. What her Grade 5 class did next is amazing.” Facebook. Dec. 3, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/cbcasithappens/posts/1524432640937218

CBC Radio. “The AIH Transcript for December 01, 2017.” CBC > Radio > All Shows > As It Happens. Dec. 4, 2017.
Available @ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.4428321/december-1-2017-episode-transcript-1.4432600#segment2

CBC Radio. “The AIH Transcript for November 14, 2017.” CBC > Radio > All Shows > As It Happens. Nov. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.4401514/november-14-2017-episode-transcript-1.4404068#segment1

CBC Radio. “Fans of Félicette, the 1st Cat in Space, Want a Statue Built in Her Honour.” CBC > Radio > All Shows. Nov. 14, 2017.
Available @ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.4401514/fans-of-f%C3%A9licette-the-1st-cat-in-space-want-a-statue-built-in-her-honour-1.4401521

CBC Radio. “This Is How Kids in Whitehorse Are Honouring the 1st Cat in Space.” CBC > Radio > All Shows. Dec. 1, 2017.
Available @ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.4428321/this-is-how-kids-in-whitehorse-are-honouring-the-1st-cat-in-space-1.4428323

Chad. “1997 History of Space Exploration.” StampWorld > Chad -- Postage Stamps (1990-1999) > Number 1517. June 16, 1997.
Available @ https://www.stampworld.com/en/stamps/Chad/Postage%20stamps/1990-1999?page=7

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Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52uwUPgWJAk

Guy, Matthew Serge. “A Statue to Félicette, the First Cat in Space.” Kickstarter > Explore > Projects.
Available @ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sergethew/a-statue-to-felicette-the-first-cat-in-space

Hyperallergic @hyperallergic. “This Kickstarter is raising funds to memorialize the first, and only, French feline astronaut.” Facebook. Nov. 4, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/hyperallergic/posts/10155837996599812

Kathryn Briggs @withryn. “Félicette, the first cat in space, says: ‘Amazon doesn't need any more of your pennies! This #CyberMonday get something from your favorite creator.’ Like this original page, now on sale in my Etsy shop http://etsy.me/2k1gPhL.” Twitter. Nov. 27, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/withryn/status/935118306872315905

Kathryn Briggs ‏@withryn. “Space Cats 3 features Félicette, a kitty who actually went into space (and returned!) in 1963.” Twitter. Oct. 4, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/withryn/status/915620583530000384

Kickstarter ‏@kickstarter. “This designer wants to create a memorial for Félicette, the first cat astronaut: http://kck.st/2zcM8w1 (via @hyperallergic).” Twitter. Nov. 3, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/kickstarter/status/926613989026447365

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/07/arabella-and-anita-spun-first-space.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/10/felicette-earths-only-astrocat-flew-to.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Parisian Stray Félicette Became First Astrocat Oct. 18, 1963.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/parisian-stray-felicette-became-first.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Three African Postage Stamps Honored Astrocat Félicette’s 1963 Flight.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 5, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/06/three-african-postage-stamps-honored.html

Meier, Allison. “Crowdfunding a Memorial to Félicette, the First Cat Astronaut.” Hyperallergic > History. Nov. 3, 2017.
Available @ https://hyperallergic.com/407954/crowdfunding-a-memorial-to-felicette-the-first-cat-astronaut/

Niger. “1999 Animals in Space.” StampWorld > Niger -- Postage Stamps (1990-1999) > 1999 > Numbers 1729-1732. Dec. 2, 1999.
Available @ https://www.stampworld.com/en/stamps/Niger/Postage%20stamps/1990-1999?year=1999

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Sept Jours du Monde. “Félicette, la 1ère Chatte Astronaute.” Radiodiffusion Télévision Française. Nov. 15, 1963.
Available via France INA (Institut National de l’Audiovisuel) @ https://www.ina.fr/video/CAF93019883

TEDxESA ‏@TEDxESA. “Comedian Helen Keen: showing prized stamps of Felix, 1st cat in space, not as well known as Laika! #TEDxESA.” Twitter. Nov. 11, 2015.
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