In memoriam - David Nagel

David Nagel passed away in his Aurodam home on June 23rd. He had been struggling with health issues since a number of years, and had just this year become 80.

Hailing from Brooklyn, USA, David came to Auroville in 1976 along with his brother Larry. He had the required 'wackiness', passion and the ability to work in diverse fields that was the need and hallmark of the early pioneering years of establishing Auroville.

After running the Nourishment restaurant in Pondicherry on rue Lally Tollendal, later known as ‘La Maison d'Auroville’, a place to eat, rest and recuperate for Aurovilians doing errands in Pondy before cycling back to Auroville, he ran the Bharat Nivas Kitchen, providing school lunches to generations of Auroville's children.

From 1978 onwards, David immersed himself in afforestation work which became his passion for the rest of his life. He must have planted thousands of trees, provided seedlings from his Aurodam nursery to many foresting people and places, and assisted greening efforts in many places outside Auroville such as the Palani Hills and on village land near the Madras Crocodile Bank together with the Irula Women's Society.

He taught how to raise nurseries with thousands of trees and then how to plant and care for them. His greening efforts are a visible legacy for the future. He can be heard speaking about his work at .

The cremation of his remains took place at Auroville’s Cremation Grounds in the afternoon of Tuesday June 27th.