SO TINA GOT HER NAME

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 78, 28 September 1940, Page 18

SO TINA GOT HER NAME

The youngest member of the TruozSaluz family of Solothurn, v Switzerland, is named/.Tina, says the "Christian Science Monitor," and if you think it's easy to name a little girl Tina in Solothurn, listen to this: It took one year and six months to do it. It to6k a decision of the Swiss Supreme Court at Berne over-ruling decisions of the Court of the Canton and Republic of Solothurn and of the city fathers of the City of Solothurn. John Truoz-Saluz, a carpenter who came originally from the Alpine valleys of the Grey Federation, one of the eastern mountain cantons, is of Romansch stock and is proud of it. He walked into the registry office of Solothurn and informed the clerk that he had a brand-new daughter and her name was Tina, The clerk got out his well-worn copy of Duden, the official German language spelling and name encyclopaedia, and shook his head. By Solothurn cantonal law (comparable to United States State law in standing) nobody could legally bear a given name which was not listed in Duden. Tina was not there. The clerk suggested "Tinka" and similar names. The head of the house

of Truoz-Saluz refused. Father appealed to the Municipal Council, which rejected his appeal. He appealed to the Cantonal Supreme Court and they rejected it too. Then he wrote numerous letters to the authorities of his home canton and sat down to await developments. He didn't have to wait long. The inhabitants of the Romansch Valley are a proud people whose language is recognised as one of the Swiss national languages. They brook no insults from the German-speaking cantons and this they considered an insult. Under the war-cry of "Romansch names for Romansch children" the Press of the Grey Federation went forth to battle with long editorials. The Italian-speaking Swiss backed them up and the French-speaking section of Switzerland joined in. Famed lawyers took up the case and carried it into the chambers of the Federal Supreme Court. There distinguished jurists finally decided that \ an original citizen of one canton had the right to name his children what j he pleased despite the laws of his adopted canton.