(2008)
Henry Major (1889-1948).
A patinated gull seems, by the exertion of its wings, poised to fly out of the bronze disk that frames it in this exquisite high- and low-relief plaque by William Boogar. “He has taught all men a respect for life,” the epitaph says. Major was a Hungarian artist and caricaturist, born Henrik Markbereiter in Nagyszalonta (part of Romania since 1920 and known as Salonta). In the United States, his caricatures of prominent politicians and entertainers appeared in Hearst newspapers and were distributed by the King Features Syndicate. Major created a stock character, the Gay Philosopher (no, not that kind), who appeared in illustrations or on tchotchkes offering some affirmative aphorism or other like “Bad officials are elected by good citizens — who fail to vote.” Major was married to Erzsebet Alexander, the sister of the famed psychoanalyst Dr. Franz Alexander, and was the lover of Dr. Clara Mabel Thompson, a famed psychoanalyst, with whom he spent time in Provincetown. Major died in Dr. Thompson’s home, 599 Commercial Street, one month after his wife was killed in a car crash while traveling to Cape Cod to secure his signature on divorce papers. In 1958, Dr. Thompson was buried in his plot.
¶ Last updated on 29 October 2017.
Find a Grave Memorial No. 52933544.