Isabella Harnier

"The identity of a person, that is, for me, was my name, my language, and where I am. And in all my phases of life, only two of these three things have ever been consistent. When I came to Europe... So in America, my name was Schwarzenberg, which was a bit strange, but I spoke English. And then I went to Europe, to Vienna, where I was called Schwarzenberg, which was very well known. But I didn't speak German. And then I came to Bavaria, where I spoke slightly better German, and the name sounded German too, as it comes from Franconia as well. And now I live here. But as a citizen, I am actually Czech and American. I have my identity, but it's always a bit... I feel like a global citizen."

"We went there in 1946, and in 1948, communism came, and my father then found that he could not serve this regime. I was two years old when we left Rome." "We then emigrated to America, and it was a bit difficult. When we arrived, my father, my mother, my sister, and the nanny we had with us, were all allowed to enter because the Czech immigration quota was open. But my country of origin, which is important for Americans, was Italy. I was not allowed in because the Italian quota was full. So my father said, “Well, then you keep her, but someone has to change her diapers.” They said, “Then take her with you.” So I was an illegal alien until the age of five, at two, three, four, five years old."