We are deeply saddened to inform you of the passing of our co-founder Laura Winckler on 15 May 2024.

At the age of 21, accompanied by her husband Fernand Schwarz, she left her native Argentina to embark on the adventure of promoting a philosophical ideal, founding New Acropolis France in 1973.

Her funeral took place at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. A large crowd gathered to pay their last respects in an atmosphere of quiet contemplation. Countless flowers, with messages from all over the world, testified to the extraordinary impact of this woman who, together with Fernand Schwarz, worked tirelessly for more than 50 years to develop philosophy throughout the world, bringing her humanistic and spiritual message with warmth and untiring kindness.

A great scholar, she studied in depth the practice of spiritual exercises in the philosophical schools of antiquity, whose approach she loved. However, she was not content with mere erudition and put all her knowledge at the service of action, working with all her strength to promote the development of the interior life in our contemporaries.

Laura Winkler was a force of life, possessing to the highest degree that rare quality of soul which, combining humility and determination, rejects all self-pity in favour of concern for something greater than oneself. At times of difficulty, such as when faced with illness and in her last moments, her selflessness and concern for others, as well as her fidelity to the great principles that had guided her life, earned her the respect of all who came into contact with her.

Our thanks go out to her for her work and her message, and our gratitude to one who, with the simplicity of a strong soul, always knew how to transform adversity with grace and lightness, and to turn the events she encountered into opportunities for developing the inner life.