The Power of Ancestry

It is at least for the second time in my family history that someone thrived in exile. One can draw power from one's ancestry.

Eating Churros con Chocolate in Australia

Stephanus Pighius (or Stefan Van Pigge) was an 16th century intellectual who lived in Xanten in Germany, after he was not allowed to resume his duties in the Netherlands after returning for his second trip to Italy in the early 1600's.



Stefan was a Catholic and the Protestant reformation in his home country took him by surprise. In those days, there were no visa, passport or human rights. Despite his exile he managed to publish several books, and led a dignified and happy life [source Nederlands Biografisch Woordenboek].


We seem to be a rather resilient lot in any case, my mother's house being bombed in Milan in 1943 with everybody surviving, and my father surviving the bombings of the battle of Arnhem in 1944.

My story as Vice-Chancellor of UNITECH in PNG is far from over yet. I cam to improve the university, not to get rich, and now I am being used as a pawn in other peoples' political games.