“The Saddest Meme“ of the Internet gave a lecture to a Kazakh student

Anelya Kupbayeva Корреспондент

instagram.com/painharold

Tengrinews.kz – A Kazakhstani student unexpectedly found herself attending a lecture by one of the most recognizable meme characters in the world — Hide the Pain Harold. A video of the lecture at a Hungarian university quickly went viral on social media, evoking a wave of emotions and nostalgia among users.

Tengrinews.kz – A Kazakhstani student unexpectedly found herself attending a lecture by one of the most recognizable meme characters in the world — Hide the Pain Harold. A video of the lecture at a Hungarian university quickly went viral on social media, evoking a wave of emotions and nostalgia among users.

Diana, a third-year Engineering Management student from Aktau, Kazakhstan, is studying at Obuda University in Hungary. She shared her rare experience in a post on Threads.

"Harold is alive! He gave us a lecture about memes. He's already 80, and it turns out he's Hungarian!" she posted on social media.

Screenshots from Threads

Many netizens began to inquire about the university where such a lecture could take place, while some looked at how memes have impacted the lives of real people.

"Interesting, what university does he teach at?"
"Does he make money from being a meme?"
"I always thought he was just someone’s granddad, and now he’s giving lectures. I’m in total shock."
"Lectures I want to attend!"
"Thanks to Harold for a million smiles on the internet. Harold is awesome."

The man behind the Hide the Pain Harold meme is András Árata, an 80-year-old Hungarian engineer and retiree. His life changed dramatically thanks to a random photo shoot in Turkey.

Dianna explained that the professor gave a lecture on memes and creativity. According to her, he no longer teaches full-time but occasionally serves as a guest lecturer.

"During the lecture, he shared his story. He was initially shocked when his photo turned into a meme. The photo was taken by a professional photographer in Turkey, and it later ended up on a stock photo website, where it was used for a meme. When András first saw himself online, he was very angry — it took him almost five years to accept that he had become an internet meme," the student said.

Dianna noted that in everyday life, he is kind, cheerful, and open to all questions.

The Hide the Pain Harold meme went viral around 2014–2015. That’s when photos of Hungarian András Árata, taken from stock photo sources, started being widely used on social media and forums, often accompanied by captions describing fake happiness or inner pain.

Internet lecture student