Emigration expert scoops expat prize

Schelbert receives the honour for a life devoted to the Swiss abroad swissinfo.ch

Historian and author Leo Schelbert has won this year's Swiss expatriate prize, which is awarded each year to an outstanding member of the Swiss abroad.

Schelbert, who has lived in the United States for more than 40 years, is an expert on Swiss emigration to America.

The 77-year-old historian, who is emeritus professor at University of Illinois at Chicago, received the prize at a ceremony on Thursday.

The honour has been awarded since 2002 by the centre-right Radical Party as a way of supporting and raising awareness of the Swiss abroad.

“[I am] grateful for recognition which always is something one cannot expect and if it’s given it’s a gift which I appreciate,” Schelbert told swissinfo.

Schelbert added that the prize was important for both the Swiss abroad and his fellow countrymen in his homeland.

The professor is an expert in emigration history, and the judges were impressed by both his wide-ranging knowledge of Swiss migration to the US and his attempts to promote to the cause of the Swiss abroad.

His publications include “Swiss Migration to America. The Swiss Mennonites” and “New Glarus. The Making of a Swiss American Town.”

Life’s work

In his laudation, Swiss historian Urs Bitterli said that no other historian had been as thorough in studying the Swiss overseas as Schelbert.

“Schelbert has fostered the topic of emigration and added some new and previously unknown aspects,” said Bitterli.

“This is especially true for Swiss emigration to the US between the 17th and 19th centuries.”

Bitterli added that Schelbert had always written in such a way that his publications, whether in German or English, could be understood by non-historians.

Schelbert also came in for praise for his use of human sources, such as diaries and letters of emigrants, in his work.

The professor’s prize comes soon after the launch of Swiss roots, a campaign supported by the authorities and the business world aimed at reaching out to the more than one million Americans with Swiss ancestry.

In a statement, Swiss roots congratulated the professor, adding that his profession and his time as president of the Swiss American Historical Society had helped to encourage more understanding between the US and Switzerland.

swissinfo

In brief

Leo Schelbert is emeritus professor of history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is an expert on Swiss emigration to America.

He was born near St Gallen in 1929 and emigrated to the US in the 1960s.

The Swiss expatriate prize, which is awarded by the centre-right Radical Party, is now in its fifth year. It is given annually as a way of supporting and raising awareness of the Swiss abroad.

Key facts

There are an estimated 1 million people with Swiss roots in the United States.
More than 5,000 places have Swiss names.
Swiss traditions continue: Swiss-style cheese is celebrated in New Glarus and at the “Green County Cheese Days” in Monroe.
A Swiss wine festival is held in Vevay, in the appropriately named Switzerland County.