On one bright day in the spring of 2006, on the banks of the Hudson River, a human and spiritual bond was forged between seemingly unlikely soul mates. A bridge across time, 106 years in the making, was about to be crossed by a young journalist, Olivia Fincato and documented by photographer Renato D’Agostin. Over a series of conversations, the journey would reveal the unparalleled professional achievement, personal joy and unimaginable sorrow of a remarkable life lived amidst the tumultuous and sometimes horrific panorama of the 20th Century.
The exhibition documenting this journey holds many evocative images but it is the hands that are so striking; a labyrinth of veins and wrinkles, hands weathered and well used in a life of service to others.
Lucia Seravadio Bedarida was born into a Jewish family in Ancona on July 17, 1900. In 1922 she graduated in Surgery and Obstetrics at the University of Rome becoming the youngest female doctor in Italy. In 1939 she was forced to flee Italy because of the promulgation of the anti-semitic racial laws which effected her whole family. She moved to Tangier, an international area in Morocco that harbored Jews who fled Europe. There, she and her husband were allowed to practice their profession.
In Tangier, she worked as a doctor for more than forty years and assisted hundreds of women in giving birth.
The break with Italy is drastic and communication is impossible. After a few years, heartbreaking news arrives: her mother and grandmother were deported and killed in Auschwitz. The antithesis of such evil at that moment was the welcoming embrace of her adoptive country Morocco, a Muslim country she called “her land” and where they called her Mama Rida. And call upon her they did, whether to assist Jewish refugees fleeing Europe or with impressive appointments such as medical advisor to not only the Minster of Public Health in Morocco and the American Consulate but also to The United Nations.
Heartache, separation and uprooting are woven throughout her story but in spite of this and the passage of time with the infirmities of age, her flame burned ever brighter. There was the joy of music, theater, family, travel, hang gliding on her 105th birthday and giving, especially to the young like Olivia. When life brought adversity she gave hope, when there was fear she gave courage, when she was shown intolerance she responded with compassion, when there was darkness she radiated light and warmth for that was her name: Lucia – Light. Lucia’s journey ended at 106 but she and her story will remain a beacon for Olivia, Renato and all those who partake of her wisdom and experience. It is her personal grace, her gift, the gift of life.
The exhibition documenting this journey holds many evocative images but it is the hands that are so striking; a labyrinth of veins and wrinkles, hands weathered and well used in a life of service to others.
Lucia Seravadio Bedarida was born into a Jewish family in Ancona on July 17, 1900. In 1922 she graduated in Surgery and Obstetrics at the University of Rome becoming the youngest female doctor in Italy. In 1939 she was forced to flee Italy because of the promulgation of the anti-semitic racial laws which effected her whole family. She moved to Tangier, an international area in Morocco that harbored Jews who fled Europe. There, she and her husband were allowed to practice their profession.
In Tangier, she worked as a doctor for more than forty years and assisted hundreds of women in giving birth.
The break with Italy is drastic and communication is impossible. After a few years, heartbreaking news arrives: her mother and grandmother were deported and killed in Auschwitz. The antithesis of such evil at that moment was the welcoming embrace of her adoptive country Morocco, a Muslim country she called “her land” and where they called her Mama Rida. And call upon her they did, whether to assist Jewish refugees fleeing Europe or with impressive appointments such as medical advisor to not only the Minster of Public Health in Morocco and the American Consulate but also to The United Nations.
Heartache, separation and uprooting are woven throughout her story but in spite of this and the passage of time with the infirmities of age, her flame burned ever brighter. There was the joy of music, theater, family, travel, hang gliding on her 105th birthday and giving, especially to the young like Olivia. When life brought adversity she gave hope, when there was fear she gave courage, when she was shown intolerance she responded with compassion, when there was darkness she radiated light and warmth for that was her name: Lucia – Light. Lucia’s journey ended at 106 but she and her story will remain a beacon for Olivia, Renato and all those who partake of her wisdom and experience. It is her personal grace, her gift, the gift of life.