Silvia Zuber 27 JUNE 1919 - 14 JANUARY 2010
Silvia Zuber was a very cordial but rather discreet person and she had categorically refused to write her life story herself. So we, as friends, have put together the elements for a very incomplete description of a very rich life.
Silvia Zuber was born on June 27, 1919 in Mozambique, where her father had built a branch of a Swiss company, and spent the first four years of her life with her sister, who was a year older than her, in Lourenço Marques, now Maputo. But the sudden death of her father in 1923 put an end to this period of her childhood, as her mother decided to return to Switzerland with her two daughters.
Silvia attended a business school but discovered over the years that she had journalistic talent and after a few semesters of journalism studies, she worked for a while for "Annabelle".
In the early 1950s, she met a group of people involved in Moral Re-Armament. Thanks to her knowledge of languages and her journalistic skills, Silvia was never short of work at the international meetings attended by thousands of participants from all over the world!
The fact that both sisters were born in Africa and that their paternal heritage is African played a big role in the whole life path of Silvia and her elder sister Margrit. Margrit spent several decades as a doctor in South Africa after her medical studies. Silvia was active for long periods in South Africa, South America, Japan and Korea. She has done pioneering work in which her journalistic knowledge has been very useful.
One of her friends in South Africa writes that Silvia was particularly appreciated for two important qualities: if she had the opportunity, she was extraordinarily generous and responded promptly to needs that she saw or heard about. In addition, she was always ready to listen to others and to help them listen to the voice of God. She spoke little, but what she said carried weight. After her death, many friends recalled her generosity, which made it possible to launch great actions in South Africa and Latin America.
When they retired from active life, the two sisters decided to share an apartment in Lucerne. Silvia accompanied her sister through a difficult illness until her death. And later, Silvia moved into a home for the elderly, where she received many visitors from the countries where she had worked. Among her last visitors were a Korean Buddhist abbess and a group of South Africans. The abbess spoke of Silvia as her spiritual mother and told how, when she was bitter towards the Japanese, Silvia helped her not only to make a true friend of a Japanese woman, but also to work for reconciliation between the two peoples.
With Silvia we have lost a great and faithful friend and we are very grateful for this rich life.
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