ZORY LOVARI
b. 1918, Basel, Switzerland
d. 2004 Basel, Switzerland
SELECTED WORKS
BIOGRAPHY
Zory Lovari's real name was Lieselotte Müller. She saw herself as an adopted member of the Romani people and therefore gave herself the name Zory Lovari. The Lovara are a subgroup of the Roma and Zory means "the strong one". She needed strength from birth: to survive, to defend herself, to fight for herself and later for others.
In the 1970s, with her association "Pro Tzigania Svizzera", she was one of the first to consistently and successfully support Sinti, Roma and Yenis in Switzerland. Her own life was marked by great suffering and constant deprivation. She was abused both in her childhood and in her marriage. She lost a child during pregnancy because her husband kicked her in the stomach. She was divorced. In abject poverty and constant existential fear, she raised five children alone. Zory Lovari worked as a cleaner in middle-class households, and later opened her own laundry.
The children alienated themselves from their mother and eventually withdrew from her completely. A victim of poverty herself, she worked tirelessly with and for the poor and stigmatized.
In everything she did, Zory Lovari felt guided by spiritual beings. They also inspired her patterns for her elaborate gypsy embroideries, and under their guidance she made mandala-shaped drawings on graph paper. She never knew what would happen. Zory Lovari understood the fragile geometric structures as patterns of order of a hidden reality. She also wrote gypsy fairy tales, but unfortunately, despite many promises, she was unable to publish them. Zory Lovari died impoverished and completely alone.
