In memoriam - Jean-Claude Bieri

Jean-Claude Bieri passed away at his home in France, Pyrenees-Orientales, on 11 March. He was 79. He lived with his partner, Marie-Jo, and was the father of two daughters born in Auroville, Hebaragui and Mindelai.

We met him in 1967, when we were both landscape decorators in and around Paris. We talked to him about the Auroville project, for which we had just received an invitation to the inauguration. At the beginning of 1969, when we met Vicenzo in Roger Anger’s architect office, who was working on the plans and models for Auroville, we became enthusiastic about the idea of a caravan of vehicles to transport people and materials for the establishment of the first Aspiration colony. With Jean-Claude and a small team, we refurbished the second-hand vehicles we had acquired to make them roadworthy, with departure set for 15 August, 1969. In December 1974, he organised a second caravan of cars from France, with around thirty people. A photographic retrospective of the fiftieth anniversary of the event was held last December at the Tibetan Pavilion.

Jean-Claude has invested in Auroville a great deal of time and effort, fulfilling his mission as a pioneer and getting involved in the “Dream”. In particular, he has helped Jacques Verre with the technical and electronic realisation of the Kuilaypalayam dental clinic. Available to all, Jean-Claude was a good companion, always cheerful and discreet. He was laid to rest on 17 March.