Ljudmila Marta Šemerl Šmid MA from Ljubljana

Proposer: Beekeeping Association of Slovenia

Ljudmila Marta Šemerl Šmid MA has a very diverse past, which she has paved successfully through learning, professional advancement, reading and exchange of opinions. Her curiosity and thirst for knowledge are still abundant, but she also has the distinction of not keeping her knowledge to herself, but successfully communicating it to others, both at home and abroad; and following her retirement, primarily to Slovenian expatriates in Switzerland. She is an enthusiastic organiser of study activities and social gatherings, and a successful leader and presenter to all age groups, from children to the elderly. After graduating from the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, she went on to study at the Natural Science and Technical Faculty in Zagreb. She perfected her knowledge of foreign languages, and her education at the Foreign Trade Academy in Belgrade enabled her to gain employment abroad. In Switzerland she had to make her way as a single parent of two children. And she found a path to people! The opportunity arose for her to take the job of Slovenian lecturer at the University of Bern. For this work she took further training at summer seminars of Slovenian language, literature and culture. She was not satisfied with the narrow professional assignments, and her activities were much broader. She overcame her sense of separation by creating a cultural bridge between Switzerland and Slovenia. She established contacts between Slovenia's National and University Library, NUK, and the Bern city library, which houses priceless treasures including some from Slovenia. She became an ambassador of Slovenian culture. For her long years of pedagogical and cultural work, she received the Recognition of the Faculty of Arts in 2003. Following her retirement she did not put her feet up. She drew up a plan for the operation of a Slovenian adult education centre at the Slovenian diplomatic representation in Bern, and she represents Slovenia among the older expatriates in Basel. She had the initiative to launch a Slovenian web chat group, Kramljanje med rojaki. She organised a reading and lending network for Slovenian books; she promoted bilingual readers' meetings; and she invited Slovenian lecturers to Switzerland. She can take credit for the founding of the Swiss Club in Slovenia and the club for Slovenian expatriates in Switzerland. She tries to bring older compatriots into this Club by the Beehive, in order for them to increase their education and maintain contact with their homeland. The club also serves to promote links between Slovenian and Swiss beekeepers.