“Study for a long time, it is during these years that one acquires knowledge and weaves friendships for life.”
Jeannette Loesch was born in Vietnam in 1923 and grew up in a family with ten children. She lived with her parents, siblings, uncle and cousins in a close-knit family community. The daily journey to school was arduous: she has to walk a long way and to take a rickshaw. Jeannette Loesch was a gifted child who loved to learn. Nevertheless, as was customary for girls at the time, she had to end her education after obtaining her ‘certificat d’études’ and help her mother look after her siblings. She was very close to her mother, whom she loved dearly, and had a close relationship with her father, with whom she often discussed politics.
At the age of 17, Jeanette Loesch begins her professional career as a dental assistant. Later, she works in a pharmacy. Her savings enable her to afford her first holiday – the beginning of a series of well-deserved trips. These trips allow her to meet wonderful people. She maintains many of these contacts over the years. On one of these trips, she also meets the father of her daughter. Their relationship lasted several years, but ended when Jeannette discovered she was pregnant, which he did not want. Determined to raise her daughter on her own, Jeannette Loesch left Saigon by ship – for the first time, at the age of 27, with Nice as her destination.
But the reality in France is far removed from the paradise her father had described. Job opportunities are limited, and a career is out of the question. A year after her arrival, Jeannette receives a message from a former pharmacist colleague who confesses his feelings for her and offers her help. She decides to return to Saigon – on one condition: her daughter must study in Europe and she wants to spend Christmas and the summer holidays with her every year. Back in Vietnam, her daughter attends nursery school before returning to France later on.
Jeannette Loesch’s life is marked by frequent travel and relocation. She often travels back and forth between France and Vietnam by passenger ship to visit and help her family. Later, because of the Vietnam War, she moves to Cambodia, where she stays for ten years with her partner. Thanks to her contacts, she is able to send her daughter to Zurich and later to England, where the girl completes her education.
A few years later, Jeannette Loesch returns to Europe: first she lives in Paris, then in Nice, and finally in Geneva, where she settles with her daughter, who already lives there, and celebrates her 100th birthday there.
Despite her advanced age, Jeannette Loesch still leads a very active life. She cooks, goes shopping with her daughter, tends to her plants, attends concerts and theatre performances. She always maintains a positive outlook on life, just as she learned from her mother. Her mother also taught her to remain loyal to the people you love.