Matrimandir Nursery

Soham (Jacques C. H. Philippeau) passed away at his home in Transformation on 19th September, 2024, due to cancer. He was 73 years old. Soham spent some of his younger years in Corsica on an isolated goat farm, where it was hard to get even essential amenities.

Martin Zbinden, a resident of New Creation Field, passed away on April 30th due to a heart failure. Martin came to Auroville in 1997 with his family from Switzerland, Nadja, Luca and David.

Having arrived in Auroville as a child with her parents in 1968, Marta provides a unique perspective as a member of the first generation of children within our community.

Judith joined Auroville in 1971. Here she talks about her journey.

On May 4th, Luigi Zanzi passed away in his apartment in Citadines. He had been struggling with his health for quite some time, and would have been 70 this year.

On August 8th, long-term Canadian Aurovilian Janet Fearn quietly and peacefully slipped away from her severely emaciated body after weeks of gently fading during which loving contact with family members and friends always remained.

On January 17, Christian Koradi left his body at his home in Prarthana, at the age of 69. Suffering from severe back pain, he had been treated in Santé since June last year for Arteritis Temporalis (Giant Cell Arteritis), a rare auto-immune vasculitis.

On the evening of February 3rd, Aurovilian V. Gnanavel of the Matrimandir Nursery left his body due to a stroke caused by high blood pressure.

N. Saravanan of Matrimandir Nursery passed away on May 28th at the age of 43 due to an accident. He was crushed under the 25 feet high chariot car of the Panchali Amman Koil temple at Thilaspet.

On 17th December, Prema (Adelina Intanno) passed away. She was 68 years old and had been fighting a terminal ailment for two years. Prema, who was born in Argentina, came to Auroville in 1979.

Danapalan, father of Aurovilians Kanniappan, Nagappan and Arumugam passed away on July 27th. He was in his eighties. Danapalan gave his land to Auroville and has been working for Auroville from the early days, starting with the Matrimandir Nursery where he was driving the first bullock cart of Auroville bringing compost from Pondicherry.