(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Brazilian foreign minister Mauro Vieira visited Solothurn recently where he met his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis. Vieira's great-great-great-grandmother was Swiss and emigrated to Brazil.
This content was published on May 7, 2024 - 11:00 2 minutes Schweiz aktuell/vonb, matb, SRF
Deutsch de Brasilianischer Aussenminister besucht Solothurner Heimat Read more: Brasilianischer Aussenminister besucht Solothurner Heimat Français fr Le ministre brésilien des Affaires étrangères a des origines suisses Original Read more: Le ministre brésilien des Affaires étrangères a des origines suisses
The location of the meeting was no coincidence: Mauro Vieira has roots in canton Solothurn. His ancestors came from the village of Erschwil, from where they emigrated to Brazil 200 years ago.
Vieira's great-great-great-grandmother, Agatha Jeker, made the long journey in 1819 when she was still a child.“She came from a family of farmers who also wove linen,” explains Simon Lutz, a historian from Erschwil.
Vieira's great-great-great-grandmother, Agatha Jeker, in 1889 SRF At that time, many Swiss were looking for a better life elsewhere. They also hoped to find enough food, Lutz said. Europe and other parts of the world were suffering from poor harvests and famine – the consequences of a volcanic eruption in Indonesia.
Agatha Jeker's journey first took her to the Netherlands, along with 118 other people from Solothurn in northern Switzerland. There, a group of around 2,000 Swiss aimed to board ships sailing to the New World. However, many of them died in the Netherlands, where malaria was rife, or during the sea crossing.
The boat carrying the Erschwil migrants reached Brazil after 69 days.“Some people were so weakened by the journey that they died shortly after arrival,” Lutz said. Documents in Solothurn's state archives prove this.
Church donations
In their new homeland, the town of Nova Friburgo near Rio de Janeiro, the Swiss hoped to find the promised land,“where milk and honey flow”. But they were disappointed, as transforming plots of virgin forest into arable land proved laborious.
In Solothurn, Vieira also met historian Martin Nicoulin, who has researched the history of Swiss emigration to Brazil and the founding of the city of Nova Friburgo. Keystone/Anthony Anex The colony of emigrants from Solothurn turned to Switzerland for help. But“the government in Solothurn reacted with restraint. It ordered the churches to donate the next Sunday's collection to the emigrants. And the pastors were asked to preach for the colony,” said Tobias Berger, research assistant at the Solothurn State Archives, based on archived documents.
Later, the canton reportedly sent money, but Berger says it's not known whether the funds arrived safely.
What is known is that Agatha Jeker stayed in Brazil, and the family name became Iecker. The Brazilian foreign minister – his full name is Mauro Luiz Iecker Vieira – said during his visit to Solothurn that it was moving to visit his family's home region.
Translated from French by DeepL/ts
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