I did not know where to post this, yet I felt compelled to share this with the brethren before it disappears:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/06/1665816/grove-eccentric-baron-sepy-joseph.html#ixzz0qEb7GTG9

Read and learn! Though there are only a few flimsy connections to Tiki, like "New Guinea tribal war wounds", and his son playing in Polo Del Mar, the spirit is all there! Those were the mid-century characters that inhabited the world of Tiki :)

Make sure you check out his Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/SepyDobronyi

great post!

Amy

``I am always fantastic,'' he once declared to The Miami Herald

What a character!
We need more of these today...

My Condolences to Ferenc and the rest of his family.

Jeff(btd)

Though there are only a few flimsy connections to Tiki, like "New Guinea tribal war wounds",

Jeff and all, thanks for your thoughts and condolences. My father was indeed bigger than life, a cross between Baron Munchausen and the Dos Equis "Most interesting man in the world", except most of the stories are true.

In fact, my father had a very strong connection to Tiki. He visited Rapa Nui 8 times, and in 1968 he shot a documentary which I will be presenting at Tiki Oasis 10. Here in Miami he was very close friends with the owners on Mai Kai, and I remember going there at least once a month in the 60s and 70s.

thanks,
ferenc

Aaaah, I knew it, I mean I had a feeling there was more. It was part and parcel of that "man of the world" life back then.
Very cool, thank you, Ferenc!

I love this comment on his Facebook page:
""I think he is already chasing some beautiful women in heaven! :)" -
Aneta Wisniewska

I wish I lived in the Miami of the past, the high rollers in the grove and south beach today think they only need their fancy cars and $300 shirts, but they're void of any kind of personality or character.

On 2010-06-08 15:49, KungFuTiki wrote:
I wish I lived in the Miami of the past, the high rollers in the grove and south beach today think they only need their fancy cars and $300 shirts, but they're void of any kind of personality or character.

Every age has its sincerely interesting characters... there's a few of them that hang around here!

Mexican divorce? I would like to know what else he did in Mexico...

so fascinating like a movie of a great lifes adventure. I enjoyed looking at the pics of his house posted on his facebook page.

Indeed! It is heartening to find proof that pin up photos like this...

...were not just all make believe (note Tapa lamp shade):

(though the lamp base is somewhat more compelling)

The article mentioned that Sepy was "oozing a type of Euro-suave that certain young women found irresistible..."
You mean I still have a chance in my old age? I gotta work on that! Let's see...wait, I have a family crest too :D :

...AND a Primitive Art book collection. Now that's a start! :wink:

Wait a minute,
you've done some books?

who knew?
:wink:

Jeff(btd)

There is this on you tube as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwpQh8TF6qU

Hey, I recognize that Tiki outrigger T-shirt he's wearing at 0.41 secs, who here made that again?

what an extraordinary man. Thanks for this post.

I read this, and after seeing the pictures scrolling through at the top of the page, I couldn't help but thinking that Sepy was a real life Jackie Treehorn...

Technically Ferenc made the shirt, as it says Pollo Del Mar on it.
But he licensed the image from SHAG.
I wear one just like it quite a bit.

Jeff(btd)

On 2010-06-10 08:27, bigbrotiki wrote:
Hey, I recognize that Tiki outrigger T-shirt he's wearing at 0.41 secs, who here made that again?

Info about Sepy's film at Tiki Oasis:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=36183&forum=17&start=225#548803

I just noticed an interesting pictorial article on Sepy in Rogue Magazine Dec. 1960 which
I'll scan eventually. (Fortunately for Tiki Central that issue also has a hula girl centerfold - and now if I get hit by a meteor the information will still be available for someone else to pick up the torch.)

In the mean time spotted this 1950 Cuban Art Center card on ebay - which you wouldn't find searching for him.

Very interesting! I had no idea he was the "director of an art institute" in Havana. This is where he must have sculpted THESE statues:

Is this what the article is about?
I only knew of his involvement with La Bodeguita Del Medio:

Both excerpts are from Pete Moruzzi's stellar book "Havana Before Castro"

And would you look at that!: They are selling his Viking boat bed!:
http://cgi.ebay.com/BARON-SEPY-DOBRONYI-FAMOUS-VIKING-SHIP-BED-RARE-Lot-246-/260769712207?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb716084f#ht_2231wt_1027

That even tops a Witco "Primitive bed room set"!

The article is about him lamenting his exile from cuba and yes he's making gold statues. However the statue model in the article is not the models mentioned. Other photos include him hanging out in a pool with his harem of nude models. Photography by Bunny Yeager - one of the models actually looks like Nani Maka from Pagan Island! Which is very possible considering Bunny Yeager was the set photographer on that movie and both photoshoots would be set in Miami circa 1960.

So apologies for the scan delay - but its at the top of my list. There's a pagan island article I'll be scanning too so the models can be compared.

Wow, that sounds great! I can just imagine that swinging scene in Florida in the 60s, with Bunny Yeager, Lewis vanDercar and now Sepy!

I thought some context would be important regarding one of those statue models...

Reel to Reel cover Aphro-disia

Anita Ekberg was a Martian beauty in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars.

Tiki Central folks may enjoy this Anita film clip for the music
http://youtu.be/xydfNG2E9h4

[ Edited by: martian-tiki 2011-04-27 22:20 ]

[ Edited by: martian-tiki 2011-04-27 22:21 ]

What music? There was music? How could I have missed music?

Tasty morsel in that clip though. Thanks.

Bear

Fascinating character. Like a Forrest Gump who knew exactly what was going on at all times. Would love to have gone to some of his parties.

I posted the article in the tiki erotica thread to keep this thread SFW.

1960s Tiki Erotica (WARNING: NUDITY)

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=1389&forum=1&start=486

Rogue
Volume 5 Number 7
December 1960
http://martiantiki.com/sepy-dobronyi/

[ Edited by: martian-tiki 2011-05-01 00:46 ]

[ Edited by: martian-tiki 2011-12-29 15:25 ]

Excellent! Man, those communists really messed up Sepy's art scene there in Havana: His own art center full of babes, his Mojito bar- what more could a Baron from Eastern Europe want!

Bachelor
Volume 3 Number 2
December 1961

Profile article on
Sepy Dobronyi

High resolution and additional articles from
this issue at
http://www.martiantiki.com/bachelor-dec1961/

I just added this to the erotica thread (page 59) to keep this thread mostly SFW

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1389&forum=1&start=884

Monsieur
Volume 2 Number 4
July 1959
http://martiantiki.com/monsieur-v2n4-july1959/

The Sculptor and his Nude Princess
Sepy Dobronyi and Elsa Byersen in Cuba

It's odd, I was just thinking of this thread this weekend.

Two versions of what I suspect is a fairly rare record.
(On the other hand these may go for 25cents in Cuba)

It would be nice to rescue/pirate this - but $300 is a bit much for me at the moment - but maybe not for you - if you don't feel like hunting for the likely $20 unsigned and never owned by anyone Sepy knew ones in a European shop.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-HF-LP-Sepy-Presents-La-Bodeguita-del-Medio-Cuba-Riverside-Records-L59-/222060141680?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Framed-Mint-Cond-HF-LP-Sepy-Presents-La-Bodeguita-del-Medio-Cuba-L60-/322046743490?

Seller :
ideals2016 (67 )
100% Positive feedback

Vintage Inscribed and Signed HF LP “Sepy Presents: La Bodeguita del Medio” Havana, Cuba Riverside Records –L59

Up for sale is this High Fidelity Recording LP: Sepy Presents: La Bodeguita del Medio, The Music of Havana's Most Fabulous Cafe. Recorded by Riverside Records and Produced by Bill Grauer Productions, Inc., New York, 1957. Cover Photograph courtesy of Sepy Dobronyi. RLP 12-815. Music led by composer, Carlos Puebla and includes Santiago Martinez and Pedro Sosa a remarkable Trio (all songs are in Spanish). This particular LP is inscribed and signed by Sepy 1959 (To the first woman in my king size bed Sepy X–a 1959. For more information please visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepy_Dobronyi

Dobronyi was also the co-owner of the Bodeguita del Medio, located near Cathedral Plaza in Havana, Cuba, which was the hangout for the jet setters of that era. In 1951, Dobronyi convinced owner Angel Martinez to convert his store into a tavern. There it became the hub of not only the art community but also of the social circles. Close friends were Ernest and Mary Hemingway, Hugh Hefner, Nat King Cole, John Wayne and Errol Flynn to name a few.

Size: 12-1/4” H x 12-1/4” W

Weight: Approx. 10 oz. plus shipping carton

Provenance: Private Collection.

Hey martian-tiki, really cool find, however I think that seller is trying to get way too much money for those records. Just check out the Discogs listing
https://www.discogs.com/Carlos-Puebla-And-Santiago-Martinez-And-Pedro-Sosa-Sepy-Presents-La-Bodeguita-Del-Medio/master/838990

They are trending around $12

It was also released on CD in 1993

Some Sepy images on ebay currently.

there must be a story behind that effort - maybe Jayne Mansfield beat him at poker, or something.

Interesting! "Sepy at the time was a resident of Havana, Cuba, had been his own gold supplier for his famous Gallery of Beauties. He had discovered sunken Spanish ships with buried treasure while diving in the sea around Cuba. The treasure hunt was very successful. Dobronyi located thirty-five sunken galleons and managed to salvage £50,000-worth of gold doubloons."

One has to wonder where this statue is now