Rumcajs
fictional character created by Václav Čtvrtek
Gallant robber Rumcajs (Czech: Loupežník Rumcajs, [ˈrumtsajs]), his wife Manka, and their son, little robber Cipísek ['tsɪpiːsɛk] are fictional characters popularized by two children's animated television series broadcast as part of the Večerníček TV program in Czechoslovakia from 1967 to 1984, 52 episodes in total. The series were designed by Czech writer Václav Čtvrtek and artist Radek Pilař. These stories were also published in book form.
Setting and fictional character biography
Rumcajs was a cobbler in Jičín and had to make shoes for the town mayor Humpál. Humpál was proud of his big feet, but Rumcajs brags that he had seen larger ones, and Humpál expels him to the (fictional) Řáholec forest "for the insult of mayor's feet", so Rumcajs becomes a Robin Hood-like brigand. Rumcajs settled in a cave in the forest and gained his signature attributes: a tall red hat, a beard with a bee swarm, and a pistol loaded with acorns. The opponents of Rumcajs include the mayor, the prince, the princess, their lackey, and even the Emperor. His helpers include his family, animals, and forest and water spirits.
Although the time of the events is never explicitly stated in the stories, from several mentions of "Král Fricek" (King Frederick William IV of Prussia), one may assume the mid-19th century. Also, in the book Manka Empress Bětka is mentioned, apparently Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Franz Joseph I.
Impact and commemoration
During 1969–1996 a one-hectare patch of forest, somewhere between Jičín and the villages of Čejkovice of Podhradí municipality, Vokšice, and Šlikova Ves was labelled Řáholec in the local forestry stand map.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 2, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q9323967. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1967, 1984, 1969 and 1996.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rumcajs” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.