Page 70 - Bulletin, Vol.83 No.2, September 2024

TRIBUTE TO FIORELLA CAPPELLI

By Gerald WALZER

Several of us here today had coffee with Fiorella only a few days ago, with no thoughts
whatsoever that so soon we would have to see her off forever. A stark reminder that
every day we live is a day to live to the fullest, a day to be thankful for. Right now, it is
Fiorella I am thankful for.

It is almost sixty years ago, in 1966, that I got to know Fiorella Cappelli as a colleague in
UNHCR. “Cappelli” spelled with double “p” and double “l”, as she often liked to remind
me – with her great smile. At that time, she was a personnel officer at UNHCR HQ,
having arrived two years earlier from the UNHCR office in Rome where she had joined
UNHCR in 1962, after six years with the Government of Italy. Some colleagues here
today worked with Fiorella in Personnel from her very first days in Geneva, and they
treasure memories that go even beyond mine.
Fiorella quickly rose to head Personnel, and from there she greatly helped UNHCR
through substantial growth and geographical change – as HCR moved and expanded
its activities from Europe to Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Fiorella quickly established
not only a reputation of superb professional competence, but also one of solid integrity
and impartiality, so very important in her position. She directed a team that fully met the
many challenges of that time; and her colleagues praised her for her leadership. They
were proud to be on her team.

By 1982, Fiorella wanted to experience UNHCR’s work in the field; and I was the lucky
one who for two years had Fiorella by my side as the Deputy Chief of the UNHCR
Mission in Pakistan, dealing with an influx of some three million Afghan refugees. With
her legal background, Fiorella oversaw the Mission’s legal protection responsibilities
with great competence, a very challenging task in the circumstances we
worked. Fiorella treasured the time she spent in Islamabad where she was respectfully
addressed by our local colleagues as Memsahib Cappelli. She travelled extensively to
the border areas and loved familiarizing herself with an entirely different culture and the
complex problems that had to be addressed. At home in Islamabad, she enjoyed the
company of her much-loved cat, and she spoiled us, her colleagues and friends, with
her generous hospitality and Italian cooking.

In 1984, Fiorella was assigned by High Commissioner Paul Hartling to Washington as
UNHCR’s Representative to the USA, a most important appointment considering the
crucial financial and political support UNHCR always needed of the US. Again, in a
setting with a completely different set of challenges, she excelled.

In 1986, Fiorella returned to UNHCR HQ as Director of the Europe Bureau, the position
she retired from in 1991. Though Fiorella worked only a few months under High
Commissioner Sadako Ogata, I know how much Mrs. Ogata appreciated Fiorella’s
contribution and regretted her departure from the Office. Upon retirement, Fiorella was
honoured by the Italian Government with a high-level award in recognition of her
outstanding services as an international civil servant.

68 AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 83 No. 2, 2024-09

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