Her last page was turned today, 26 Jan 2021
By
Heidi Trautmann
It
is about ten years ago that I met Elsie Slonim for the first time for an
interview on the occasion of the publication of her book ‘Lemons from Paradise’.
We arranged to meet at the restaurant ‘Hamur’ in Nicosia near the Ledra Palace
Crossing. I had done some research on her life and knew that she was 95 years
old and so I expected to meet a fragile old lady. The owner of the restaurant,
Ahmet Çavusoglu, who unfortunately no longer lives, pointed her out to me ‘Here comes my friend Elsie…and he rushed off
to help her out of her small red car. I
saw her approaching… an energetic woman with
a full dark mane and deep red painted lips. That was 2013. I published our interview in Cyprus Observer
and my website. What a woman. In the following years I met her on several
occasions, and learnt more and more about her and her family’s extraordinary life.
See my articles under the following link:
http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=1828183465#.YBAY_jEzaUk
Our
last encounter was in 2017 at the Goethe Institute in Nicosia, where friends of
hers had come together to celebrate her 100th birthday and when I
delivered my heartfelt wishes and a birthday kiss I whispered into her ear,
Please Elsie, let me know your recipe which keeps you so young and energetic…. And
she whispered back: “Keep working”. She had just published her third book
‘Ahead
of Time – The First Hundred Years’ in German and English.
When
I read the sad news this morning that she had died in her house, the only
private residence in the military zone in Nicosia/Dereboyu, I could hardly believe it. Elsie, who had lived a full life, and who had
loved it.
Rest
in peace, Elsie, you will not be forgotten.