assert "wxAssertFailure" problem/segfault

Hi,
I've been trying to embed (statically) wxPy alongside an embedded py interpreter on a linux/gtk box.

At one point, for some reason misc.o linking reported "multiple definitions of wxGetFreeMemory()". Since wxGetFreeMemory() seemed effectively unused in gtk, I just commented it out in misc_wrap.cpp (didn't want to patch SWIG to regenerate the wrapper code, so hacked the generated cpp source), and replaced "result=(long)wxGetFreeMemory();" with "result=0;". Crossed some fingers...

All compiled and links without errors. (but don't try this at home folks: an almost 20MB executable)
Anyhow, executing from the embedded interpreter the following:

···

--------------------

import _core
import _misc
import _windows
import _controls
import _calendar
import _gdi
import _grid
import _html
import _wizard
print dir()
--------------

outputs:
['__builtins__', '__doc__', '__file__', '__name__', '_calendar', '_controls', '_core', '_gdi', '_grid', '_html', '_misc', '_windows', '_wizard']

but then continuing with:

--------------

import core
import misc
import windows
import controls
import calendar
import gdi
import grid
import html
import wizard

--------------

Modules - misc, calendar, grid, html, wizard - they all report
    ImportError: No module named ...

Related:
--------------

import core

--------------

    import core
  File "somepath/core.py", line 9444, in ?
    from misc import *
ImportError: No module named misc

Which is rather odd. Some unsuccessful hacks:
'core.py': around line 9444 replaced "from misc import *" to "from _misc import *". Only to get stopped by the next line (and last line) in "cope.py" with:

./src/helpers.cpp(680): assert "wxAssertFailure" failed: Unable to find stock object [in child thread]

Commenting out last line of core.py and running:

--------------
print "core.Frame>", core.Frame
print "core.App>", core.App
a = core.App()
--------------

outputs:
core.Frame> <class 'windows.Frame'>
core.App> <class 'core.App'>
Segmentation fault

but if I do:
--------------
a = _core.new_PyApp()
print a
--------------
<core.PyApp; proxy of C++ wxPyApp instance at _e8c2e408_p_wxPyApp>

So I don't quite see the big picture here. The good news is that embedded py has access to wx classes, albeit in this not very pythonish raw form, bad news is that I don't quite understand why embedded py interpreter can import some embedded modules (like core and gdi), but fails to import some others (like misc or html). I'm not too sure what causes the segfault, but I suspect some dependencies on the failed imports perhaps? I included my little hack in misc_wrap.cpp, just in case it plays a role here which I missed.
Any suggestions welcome,

Cheers,
Vio