My Years with Ludwig von Mises.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

face almost emotionless. I wore a royal blue outfit, made in Vienna
for this occasion. My heart was beating so hard I thought everyone
could hear it. The registry office was somber and dull, as all public
offices are. I was astonished that it did not smell of Lysol. My
flowers brought the only touch of gaiety and color to this disappointingly
depressing ceremony. At five minutes past eleven everyone
had signed the certificate: I was Mrs. Ludwig von Mises.
Lu kissed me, conventionally, hastily, conscious of all the people
around us. But he also took my hand and pressed it firmly and
warmly, as if he wanted to tell me: "You know how I feel. This kiss
does not mean anything." And then everyone congratulated us and
kissed my hand.
Luhad invited some friends for luncheon at the Hotel des
Bergues. Everything was carefully arranged, and the little party
was a great success. Lu was always a good host; he knew what
people liked and he remembered their preferred drinks. For the
first time I met more of his colleagues with whom he was in close
contact: Professor and Mrs. Wilhelm Roepke, the Haberlers, the
Kelsens, and Professor and Mrs. William Rappard.
Of all the people I met in Geneva, Professor Rappard was my
favorite. He had, like Churchill, an American mother. His father
was Swiss. He spoke four languages fluently, without the least bit
of accent. He was the founder of the Institut des hautes etudes and
a great thinker and writer, but also a devoted family man. Everything
about him was elegant, his movements, his appearance, his
way of walking, his speeches, his eloquence, his way of living. It
was an inborn elegance, a gift of nature. You have it, or you don't;
one cannot acquire it. He had a great admiration for Lu and
showed it with frequent invitations for us to visit his lovely home,
far from the center of town. Madame Rappard was the motherly
type, a wonderful warm personality, mostly interested in the wellbeing
of her family. .
'
After our marriage I moved in with Lu. Gitta had been enrolled
at La Marjolaine, "un Pensionat de jeunes filles," some months
before. Without a word Lu took care of all financial matters concerning
the children. Gitta liked her school in Lausanne, but she
preferred to stay with us, and she came as often as she could make
it.
From the time Lu first came to Geneva in 1934, he had a housekeeper,
Tiny, whom he had "inherited" from the Kelsen family. Lu
often told me about her before I left Vienna: what an excellent
worker she was and how she terrorized him. She came in the morning
and left around 5 P.M. Shehad a lover on whom she was totally
dependent. The lover stayed in the background; no one ever saw
him or knew his name or occupation. But he was a force with
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