Hello, thank you for wanting to know a little more about me. Born in Geneva of an Italian father and an English mother, I grew up in what is probably Switzerland's most ‘un-Swiss’ canton. In addition, we visited either England or Italy each year so that I think of myself as a Swiss citizen of course (I hold a Swiss passport, too), but one with a deep and meaningful connection to his European roots – yet I am a strong EU sceptic in that I regard the present, Brussels-based offshoot as a travesty of the EU ideals.

In my early and late teens respectively, I developed a strong interest for the English language, books and computing (at first with the ZX Spectrum – see this short BBC clip –, then unfortunately with Windows-based machines). Thanks to my perseverance and strong conviction in the revolutionary potential of the Internet as THE medium for global communication, I was able to quit teaching and find work in the field of written communication in English, first in a B2B environment then in banking/the financial services.

As regards my interests, passions or hobbies, there are few things I enjoy as much as reading well-written prose or, when it comes to physical activity, running out in the open air, a few hundred metres above sea level – the latter because I like to have the impression that I can immerse myself into my natural surroundings.

In fact, I try to lead a lifestyle that respects nature (no car, no meat, buying local as much as possible, etc.). It is not simple, yet I take comfort in the fact that the human mind is capable of being really creative and that, therefore, there are so many ways we can find to help alleviate the impact we are having on our natural environment. Otherwise, it would be rather depressing*, would it not?

I have set up a slightly longer outline of my educational background and work history in this password-protected section for those I felt might be interested in obtaining more information about me.

* For some pretty grim aerial shots of the impact humans have had on their natural surroundings over a span of only three to four decades, check the NASA's ‘state of flux’ page (which is part of its climate change website).

Lausanne, 23rd March 2015