A 102-year-old person makes art out of life

CORNWALL – To say Cornwall’s Klara Calitri has lived a full and eventful life would be a massive understatement.

The 102-year-old was blessed with a long marriage, created amazing works of art that have been exhibited in numerous galleries and now adorn almost every space in her home, and volumes of history seen and experienced on two continents.

Always optimistic, welcoming and generous of spirit, Calitri greeted a familiar last week Independent writer keen to capture his thoughts, rituals and reminiscences as he made his way deeper into the county’s exclusive club of centenarians. Calitri has always prided herself on her determination and self-reliance. Rather than direct her visitor to a particular painting she has created, the petite but relentless Calitri summons her strength to stand, then – a cane in each hand – slowly propels herself through her art-filled halls towards the piece to which he was referring.

Each piece of art has its own story and needs narrative, and she is happy to provide it.

Her story began in Vienna, Austria in 1922. That European nation’s first chancellor, Ignaz Seipel, came to power in May of that year and quickly attempted to forge a political alliance between wealthy industrialists and the Roman Catholic Church.

Calitri’s mother (née Feiner) ran a clothing store and her father was a banker. She was raised in a caring household and enjoyed a happy childhood.

Until he turned 16. That was in 1938, when Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany ordered the annexation of Austria, called Anschluss. Hitler by this time he was well into his program of persecuting and killing Jewish citizens. Klara’s father was Jewish, while her mother was Catholic. This made Klara a “Mischling” – a pejorative legal term used by the Nazi regime to designate people of mixed Jewish/Aryan ancestry.

“I had to leave Austria,” she recalled, because her parents feared for her safety.

Fortunately, Klara’s mother had family in Czechoslovakia. It seemed like a safe haven for the expanding Nazi empire.

“I said, OK, I’m going to go to Czechoslovakia to live with my grandparents in Prague and go to a Czech school,” she said.

Klara’s immense linguistic talents made her transition quite easy. But while he could overcome language barriers, he could not overcome Hitler’s relentless advance.

“Low and behold, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia,” Calitri said. “It was a heartbreaker.”

Hitler’s army made quick work of the weaker target. Czechoslovakians were divided over how to deal with their invaders.

“On one side of the street, people were lined up saying ‘Heil Hitler,’ and on the other side they were sitting and crying,” Calitri recalled.

A BAD PART OF HUMANITY

She sees parallels between the German dictator and former President Donald Trump, who returned to the polls in November. She believes Trump has taken a page from the Nazi playbook, using rhetoric that marginalizes and demonizes immigrants.

For example, during Tuesday night’s presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump repeated a false allegation that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, ate cats and dogs. He also said that most immigrants are criminals, which is not true.

Calitri compared the action of some Trump supporters to the attack in the Capitol building in January. 6, 2021, to fail Hitler Beer coup in Munich on November 8-9, 1923.

“The putsch collapsed and Hitler was put in prison afterwards. But he came out of that and then he was hugely successful,” Calitri said.

She noted that conditions in post-World War I Europe were unfortunately ripe for a strongman to take over; countries were facing major economic problems, punctuated by high unemployment and inflation.

“My grandmother went shopping with a wheelbarrow because it took so much (money) to buy anything,” Calitri said. “I think people were ready for anyone who made big promises to succeed. At that time, it was a matter of crossing a bad part of humanity.

“God, I hope it doesn’t happen here,” she added.

Calitri will eagerly await the results of the November 5 general election. But in the meantime, she has family, friends, her artwork, and many fond memories to keep her company.

These memories include immigrating to the US in her late teens, marrying her boyfriend Junius Calitri in her 20s; a long and successful career as an educator, primarily in New York State; and a happy life in Addison County.

Her first impulse was to go to art school.

“But my parents said, ‘You have to train for something so you can support yourself and not have to depend on a man,’” she said with a smile.

Well, she was very good at languages ​​and history, but was – by her own admission – “terrible” at maths.

Calitri considers herself “very lucky” to have been accepted to a Catholic school at a nunnery in Connecticut at the age of 17.

“There were a large number of refugees (looking to leave Europe), but not many Catholic refugees,” she said.

The nuns were French, and Klara had already mastered that language. She did very well during her year and a half at the nunnery, eventually graduating from high school. Her grades earned her a scholarship to Trinity College (for comparative literature) in Burlington, followed by graduate school at Cornell University.

“A BIG SUMMER”

Klara was still a student and looking for a job at a summer camp in New York state when she met her future husband. He needed a Red Cross lifeguard certificate to get his job at the summer camp. The problem was that all the lifeguard courses were done for the summer. She was advised to go to a local beach to see if a licensed lifeguard could help her.

He took a bus to the nearest beach and scanned the area for the fittest lifeguard. He was Junius, and he wasn’t just a “good” swimmer. He was a national junior swimming champion while at Dee Witt Clinton High School and would later earn a spot on the US Olympic team for the 1940 games.

“I said, ‘I need a certificate to get the job at the camp, do you think you could do it?’” Klara recalled. “He looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t you come back tomorrow.’ I came back the next day and it took him all summer to teach me. I never got the job (at camp), but I had a great summer.”

They married the following year, when she turned 20. They remained together until his death 69 years later in 2012.

Klara spent the better part of four decades teaching virtually all grade levels, primarily German, French, Spanish, Latin, and even physical education for one year when Trinity College had an elementary school.

She was the first woman to work in the German Department at Columbia. She taught for many years in schools in the Putnam Valley region of New York.

Junius was also a lifelong educator, primarily teaching physical education and science. He became principal and then superintendent of Putnam Valley Central Schools. He served as superintendent for the Garrison School District in Garrison, NY for several years. The couple retired to Vermont in 1980, although they remained very active volunteers for charitable and civic causes.

They raised three children who make sure mom does well in her golden years.

Living in Vermont has always felt like home to Klara, who along with her husband was an avid skier.

“Vermont is more like Austria than any other state in the country,” she said.

KLARA’S ARTWORK

She drew artistic inspiration from the state and Addison County for her multimedia art creations. Landscapes, wildlife, and people are the centerpieces of many of her stunning works, which have been exhibited at City Hall Theater, the Shelburne Museum, and many other venues.

Calitri is largely self-taught, which makes her artwork seem even more impressive. Whether it’s oils, watercolors, ceramics, stoneware or acrylic, she has the ability to make her subjects pop off the canvas. She presented, at least for now, the notion of making new works of art; it has several parts that need to be finished.

Using his hands to create was also therapeutic for the artist.

“If you paint something, you can understand it better,” she said.

“People bring me flowers and I want to paint them,” she laughed.

Calitri experienced all four seasons 102 times. Asked to account for her longevity, she credited never smoking, constant exercise—mostly through swimming, tennis, and skiing—broadening her horizons through travel and eating what she wanted (within reason). He always picked fruit over candy.

Sticking to a reasonable diet became a bit of a challenge for Junius, she admitted with a smile. He had been raised on copious amounts of pasta.

“When we got married, I said, ‘Juni, I can’t live on a daily diet of spaghetti.’ What are we going to do?” she said.

They compromised with one meal of pasta (cooked by Junius) a week.

Living a long life is nice, but it comes with drawbacks, according to Klara. The body breaks down, the loss of independence and fewer peers to sympathize with.

“I don’t know how I ever got this far. I don’t belong anymore. Almost all my friends died,” she lamented.

But she was always adaptable, as one would expect from someone who escaped the onslaught of Nazism – twice.

“Try to be kind and have good friends,” she advised. “Forget the bad things and try to put them aside.”

Reporter John Flowers is at (email protected).