Katalin Karikó herself reacted to the news of the painting on her Twitter page, writing that "it was a surprise, a big surprise."Continue reading
The five-story-high mural paying tribute to Hungarian-American biochemist Katalin Karikó, who played a key role in the development of the mRNA Covid vaccines, was recently vandalized, presumably by anti-vaxxers.
“Witch,” “Poison of the beast,” “Quack,” “Sorcery,” “Do not take the mark of the beast,” were all scrawled underneath Katalin Karikó’s huge 220 square meter portrait at Krisztina Boulevard 30 in Budapest’s 1st district.
The idea of the mural originated from the organizers of the festival, Brain Bar. The artwork was designed and created by the talented and experienced team, “Colorful City” (Színes Város), with the project taking around 11 days and 197 liters of paint.
“In addition to her academic achievements, Katalin Karikó is doing Hungary a great service by proving to the next generation [of Hungarians] that we have a place among those shaping the 21st century,” said Gergely Böszörményi-Nagy, the founder of Brain Bar.
According to news site Telex’s report from the scene, the police have already started an investigation into the crime. The portal also contacted the organizers of Brain Bar, who said that it wasn’t them who filed a complaint about the vandalism. However, they are determined to remove the inscriptions from the mural, which could happen by the beginning of next week at the latest, depending on the weather.
Featured photo by Zoltán Balogh/MTI
