Swiss Identity Archives - Page 1748 of 3168

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Demographics

Leaving the poverty behind

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 swissinfo’s Luigi Jorio joined the group for the walk up to the Sassello pass, once a point of transit for those leaving behind the poverty of their native valleys to seek their fortune overseas. My worst fears are confirmed: the climb up to the pass at 2,234 metres above sea level is exhausting. The trail…

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Demographics

Rare feathered friends pay a visit

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 Experts at the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach, in central Switzerland, said on Wednesday that they had received more than 300 reports of sightings from across the country in the past few weeks. The birds were first spotted in eastern Switzerland, but have since spread throughout the country. Ornithologists are calling the rare Nordic visitor…

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Demographics

Migrations interview: Part four

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 But as Giorgio Cheda argues in this part of the interview, the mass movements abroad, especially those to California, must be seen as benefiting both the emigranti and those who remained in Ticino. swissinfo: So over many decades, people continued to migrate to California – but not only to California, to Argentina as well between…

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Culture

Miraval: à coeur ouvert

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009

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Demographics

A priest describes the common man

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 This is how the Benedictine priest Paolo Ghiringhelli (born Bellinzona 1778, died Einsiedeln 1861) described the people of canton Ticino in his day. The following extracts are taken from Antonio Galli’s book “Ticino at the beginning of the 19th century in the ‘Topographical and Statistical Description’ of Paolo Ghiringhelli”, 1943. The men Where physical appearance…

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Culture

A peasant woman remembers…

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 Clementina Rusconi, born in 1905, was one of 31 people from Val Verzasca interviewed by Franco Binda for his book I vecchi e la montagna (The old people and the mountain), published in 1983 by Armando Dadò. The interview was originally transcribed from the local dialect into Italian. Binda attempted to maintain the spontaneity and…

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Culture

A man recalls working as child chimney sweep

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 They were typically forced by their parents to leave home in November and work for the winter in places like Milan before returning sometime in the spring. These boys were often maltreated. Underfed and having to sleep in unheated quarters, they also suffered from homesickness and the fear of suffocating in the narrow chimneys. A…

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Demographics

A doctor on childbirth

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 Ticino had the worst record among Swiss cantons for infant mortality at the time. The deaths occurred either during delivery or in the first year of life. Qualified midwives were all but unheard of in the canton. The following is an excerpt from a letter doctor Isidoro Bruno wrote to the government, describing one incident…

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Demographics

Rejected asylum seekers end 19-day protest

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 Around 150 rejected asylum seekers had been holed up in the Prediger Church until Monday before moving to the St Jakob Church. In a news release, the protestors said they were ending their 19-day action following “partial success”. A special commission will hear the grievances of illegal immigrants in response to the protest but there…

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Swiss Identity

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“We shall not stay long”

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Leaving the poverty behind

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Rare feathered friends pay a visit

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Migrations interview: Part four

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Miraval: à coeur ouvert

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A priest describes the common man

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A peasant woman remembers…

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A man recalls working as child chimney sweep

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A doctor on childbirth

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Rejected asylum seekers end 19-day protest

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