In memoriam - Daniel Emdin

In memoriam:

Daniel Emden

Daniel of Tanto (Daniel Emdin) left us suddenly on 4 March 2025, due to cardiac arrest. He was 77 years old.

Daniel came to stay in Auroville in 1977, after having visited a few years earlier. At the time he lived at Sri Ma, then called Far Beach. He left in 1981 and returned for good in 2004. From then on he was fully involved in various activities and working groups of Auroville, where he shared his visionary ideas.

Having had experience in France as a correspondent for RFI (Radio France Internationale), Daniel set up, along with Andrea, Auroville Radio (now Auroville Radio TV).

Another of his areas of expertise was managing a pizzeria, and here he showed himself to be a successful entrepreneur, establishing in 2007 a pizza restaurant in Kuilaypalayam, called Tanto Pizzeria (‘Tanto’ meaning ‘abundance’), which was one of the first pizzerias in India. Over time, another three Tanto’s followed.

He also developed a beach resort in Sri Ma, which is “not a common holiday resort for tourists, but a place for people to meet, learn and relax” as he put it. He always remembered a conversation The Mother had with Satprem on 23 June 1965, as recorded in Mother’s Agenda, in which she suggested the development of the beach area north of Pondicherry where there could be a “big hotel, the plan of which Roger has already done, a big hotel to receive visitors from outside”.

Daniel always emphasised that his motivation for doing business was not to earn money for himself, but as a service to Auroville. He ran the resort in Sri Ma, together with his partner Sheril, with the Auroville economy very much in mind for he felt that the future of Auroville’s economy is hospitality connected to education. He thought Sri Ma was the ideal place for this. “What’s important is the flow of money – not what you own, but what you let pass through you.”

People who knew Daniel found him a person with a big heart, a good friend and a generous spirit. He reserved, in two of his restaurants, one day in the week when Aurovilians could have lunch for half the usual price. This 50% off was to help Aurovilians to get together in a jolly family atmosphere, unlike at meetings or events.

His sudden passing leaves a vacuum in Auroville and in the lives of many, including Sheril and his daughter Lailah.

On the day of his passing, it was announced that the Tanto pizzeria in Kuilapalayam was open as usual, offering the usual 50% discount for Aurovilians. Not closing the restaurant on that day was a fitting tribute to Daniel’s memory, for he would have wished it to be like that.

Daniel’s body has been taken back to Pisa, in Italy, where he was born, to be buried there according to his last wish.