À l’âge de quatre-vingt-quatorze ans, le Dr Nelly Auersperg est décédée le 15 janvier.
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| Le père de Nelly, Viktor. |
Née le 13 décembre 1928 à Vienne, la baronne Nelly Gutmann était la fille unique du baron Viktor Gutmann von Gelse und Belišće (1891-1946) et de Luise Bloch-Bauer (1907-1998), qui se sont mariés en 1927. Nelly fut rejointe plus tard par un frère cadet, le baron Francis Gutmann (1934-2014). Leur père Viktor était un industriel.
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| La grand-tante de Nelly, Adèle, vers 1920. |
Les grands-parents paternels de Nelly étaient le baron Alfred Gutmann von Gelse und Belišće (1857-1919) et Ottilie Pollak von Rudin (1864-1921). Ses grands-parents maternels étaient Gustav Bloch (1862-1938) et Marie Therese Bauer (1874-1961). La grand-tante de Nelly était Adèle Bloch-Bauer, qui a été peinte par Gustav Klimt et dont l'histoire a été racontée dans le film de 2015 La Dame en or , avec Helen Mirren, qui incarnait la cousine de Nelly, Maria Altmann.
Le 30 mai 1955, à Vancouver, la baronne Nelly von Gutmann épousa le prince Johannes « John » von Auersperg (1930-2017), fils du prince Eduard von Auersperg (1893-1948) et de la comtesse Sofie von Clam und Gallas (1900-1980). Le couple resta marié pendant soixante-deux ans. John et Nelly eurent deux enfants : la princesse Maria Elisabeth (née en 1956 ; mariée à David Harris) et le prince Eduard « Edward » Viktor (né en 1958 ; mariée à Nancy Andrews).
Voici la nécrologie du Dr Nelly Auersperg parue dans le Vancouver Sun :
AUERSPERG, Nelly, MD/PhD 13 décembre 1928 (Vienne) – 15 janvier 2023
Dimanche dernier, après une longue maladie, notre bien-aimée Nelly Auersperg s'est éteinte paisiblement. Elle et sa famille étaient reconnaissantes d'avoir pu profiter de leurs derniers moments ensemble.
Nelly a été précédée dans la mort par son père Viktor (Gutmann), sa mère Luise (née Bloch Bauer), son frère Francis et son mari John. Elle laisse dans le deuil sa fille Maria (David), son fils Edward (Nancy) et ses six petits-enfants Anthony, James, Elizabeth, John, Steven et Natalie, ainsi que de nombreuses autres personnes qu'elle a côtoyées au cours de sa vie incroyable. Elle était extrêmement reconnaissante d'avoir eu l'occasion de tenir dans ses bras deux arrière-petits-enfants, Ada et Henrik, et heureuse de savoir qu'il y en aurait d'autres à venir.
Nelly enjoyed a privileged childhood, but also experienced the horrors of war, revolution and loss. After eventually making her way to Vancouver, she obtained her MD degree (U of Washington) and PhD (UBC). She spent six decades in cervical and ovarian cancer research; a pioneer in her field, publishing over 200 research papers, and mentoring over 60 students, post-doctoral fellows and lab technicians, all of whom she lovingly and proudly referred to as her children. She was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from SFU, UBC Lifetime Achievement Award, AMS of UBC Great Trekker Award, and had an OVCARE symposium and an award in Women’s Health Research named in her honour. She was a trustee of the BC Foundation for Non-animal Research.
In 2016, she travelled to Croatia, and successfully honoured her late father’s final request to have his unjust death sentence imposed in 1945 overturned.
Nelly continuously displayed her gratitude for the life she was able to live in Canada. She set up three charitable foundations, providing respite for families affected by autism, housing for people suffering from homelessness and mental illness in Vancouver, and cervical cancer care in Uganda. In her nineties, she still found energy to contribute to and help translate into English a Croatian economics textbook about her childhood hometown of Belisce, and also helped spearhead the campaign to acquire a Shakespeare first folio for the UBC Special Collections library.
She did not live for work alone, enjoying the outdoors, skiing, sailing, gardening and reading. She also found time for family and was always there when needed, caring for her children and introducing her grandchildren to culture and the arts, Disneyland and the opportunity to travel. She and they especially treasured visits to the town she lived in Croatia, where she showed each of them something of their roots and the place where so much happened during and after the war to shape her life and their heritage.
She passed away at age 94, remaining inquisitive, feisty and alive until her final hours. She even relished watching the Canucks finally win a game just hours before she left us.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Mercy Tenerio and Dr. Geoffrey Edwards for so many years of kindness, dedication and patience, to staff and friends at Tapestry, to Dr. Jason Park, and to the many staff at Vancouver General Hospital for their kind and tender care.
Funeral mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church (2465 Crown Street, Vancouver) on Tuesday, January 24 at 12 p.m., with a reception to follow at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club from 3:30 p.m.
The University of British Columbia – Dr. Nelly Auersperg Announcement
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