‘That mummy is my great-grandfather’

Every family has mysteries, but few involve an ancestor who was mummified. The anecdote of Claudio Mazzucchelli’s “Pasha great-grandfather” circulated for decades among the former diplomat’s family. But while Mazzucchelli was in Egypt on behalf of the Swiss foreign ministry, the unlikely-sounding story was confirmed. Cairo, 1992. Claudio Mazzucchelli had been Swiss consul to Egypt, a country to which he is particularly attached, for two years. Mazzucchelli, whose mother was born in Egypt, tells SWI swissinfo.ch that his duties included travelling to Alexandria once a month to bring pensions, in cash, to a handful of elderly Swiss living in the city. His contact in Alexandria was a lady who knew his family well. One day the phone rings. The lady in Alexandria has disturbing news: “The body of a Swiss man is in the morgue.” Maybe a tourist has had an accident, Mazzucchelli thinks. Maybe he’ll have to take one fewer pension to Alexandria. His doubts turn to disbelief when the lady ...