Jacqueline Duroure

in Léo Matarasso, Seminario del 6 dicembre 2008, Cedetim, Parigi

Dear Piero,

What can we say about Leo after all that has been said during this day of remembrance? I didn’t know him very well and didn’t meet him frequently. However, I remember him as a man who was extremely attentive to others, with an intelligence that made you feel intelligent when you were around him. His eyes were clear and lively, his smile generous.
The first time I met him, the only time I went to Rue de Tournon, he listened to me telling about my commitment to the Indians, then he told me about the League and invited me to attend the next meeting. That is how I got to know you all: Adolfo, Philippe, Jean-Marie, Edmond, Verena, and the others … and you!
I have participated with enthusiasm in several “people’s tribunals”: Amazonia; Tibet; child labour …. I have also participated in several League meetings in Genoa, Rome and Paris. And also in the work of the League at the UN in Geneva. I regret that it could not survive the erosion of time. You know, in 1980 I created the Chasky Committee whose aim was to defend the rights of the Indian peoples. This Committee still exists, it is still used for certain actions, it lives in the hands of other younger people.
To talk about Leo, I can quote some anecdotes. For example, one year in Geneva, when the president said: “the floor is for Leo Matarasso for the League of Peoples’ Rights”, Leo was not in the room; the president insisted “don’t you want to speak?” So I opened the microphone and took his intervention and read it. When I had finished, he put his hand on my shoulder and said “that’s good, my dear”. We were looking for him, he sat behind me and was kind enough not to interrupt me or speak up.
One day I was surprised at the way he worked, he took few notes, wrote very little. I remarked to him, and he replied, “Oh, now I write a lot more, when I was younger I only wrote a few words.
But the best thing he said to me was when I suggested him to write his memoirs. He replied with a smile, “My dear, at my age it’s too late, I only remember the good things.
As only those who are forgotten really die, I think that he is still very much alive for all those who had the happiness to know him, and for a long time, because I know that each one in his own way will transmit his memory. Finally, maybe that is what we call the soul?

I kiss you
Jacqueline

in:

<strong>Léo Matarasso,
Seminario del 6 dicembre 2008, Cedetim, Parigi
Milano, maggio 2009</strong>