Who is Pepicék?

Pepicék is Felix’s nickname. In the months before his birth, Nicola’s brother Adam started calling Felix Pepicék. The name comes from the children’s opera Brundibar by Jewish Czech composer Hans Krảsa. Pepicék is the name of one of heroes in the story. The opera was composed in the days leading up to the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. It was performed by Jewish children in the Terezỉn Concentration Camp on more than 55 occasions. Most of the children who performed the work, as well as the composer Krảsa, perished in Nazi camps. A few years ago, playwright Tony Kushner and writer Maurice Sendak adapted the opera into a wonderful children’s book.

The name appeals to our shared Czech heritage, and to our commitment to honoring the spirit of resistance to injustice in the world. You can read more about Brundibar here, and here.