Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch (French: Maréchal Plekszy-Gladz) is the totalitarian fascist ruler of Borduria. Although he never appears as a character in the series, he is mentioned by name, and depicted in statues and portraits in The Calculus Affair, The Castafiore Emerald and Tintin and the Picaros. His English name is an allusion to his curved mustache, which also appears as diacritical mark in the language of Borduria. The original French name is a reference to Plexiglas, a shatter-resistant alternative to glass.
Trivia[]
The statue of Kûrvi-Tasch in Szohôd as seen in the book series.
He, along with the Bordurian government he leads, closely resemble the Nazi Third Reich. A common Bordurian curse refers to Kûrvi-Tasch and his unusually large mustache: "by the whiskers of Kûrvi-Tasch". The mustache itself is also similar to that of the dictator of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.
In King Ottokar's Sceptre, the leader of Borduria is Müsstler, not Kurvi-Tasch. Given the circumstances, it is presumed that Tasch became leader after World War II under Stalin. As evident from his name, a combination of Mussolini and Hitler, Musttler likely belonged to the Axis powers. Following the Axis defeat, as the Red Army occupied Eastern Europe, Kurvi Tasch would have seized power as well.
Among the Bordurian officers appearing in the latter part of <Sceptre>, there is one who bears an almost identical resemblance to him. There is a possibility that he is Kurvi-Tasch himself.