2022/2023
Collection 18

Teacher for Life

1927–2019; Casablanca, Morocco; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Brooklyn, New York, USA

Imagine growing up in Morocco speaking eight languages and having to flee your home because of a Nazi invasion. That is just part of the life story of my great-grandma Rosette Moskowitz, affectionately known to us as “Mémé.”(1)

The youngest of seven children, Mémé was always at her mother’s side growing up. Her mother was an exceptional cook. Mémé’s father was Morocco’s first Minister of Education. One evening the king of Morocco came to dinner at Mémé’s house. The king was dumbfounded at how delicious the meal tasted. He insisted that my great-great-grandmother become his personal chef. Of course, one cannot deny the king’s request.

Mémé watched attentively as her mother cooked for the king. Mémé learned to cook without measuring ingredients. She always cooked to taste, based on what she learned as a little girl in the king’s palace. Besides being a fantastic cook, Mémé also learned how to make her own clothes. Mémé was also the first female valedictorian to graduate high school in her hometown of Casablanca.

Unfortunately, while Mémé was a teenager, World War II broke out, and the Nazis invaded northern Africa. Her family was forced to flee Morocco. They emigrated to France, Spain, and Canada. Mémé, however, met an American soldier, Peter Moskowitz, from Brooklyn, New York. They fell in love and married after the war ended.

Before going to the United States, they lived in Ethiopia for several years. This is where Mémé learned to speak Swahili, a Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. During this time, she also learned how to speak Yiddish, a language used by Jewish people in Central Europe before the Holocaust. My great-grandfather’s family spoke Yiddish at home.

After moving to the United States, my great-grandparents raised three children. Mémé began teaching French at the local high school.

Sometime later, Mémé became the first certified Swahili teacher in New Jersey. Her class was extremely popular, and students loved learning about African culture and language. She became one of the first teachers to help organize fundraisers for student overseas trips. Experiencing firsthand the culture Mémé had taught about in her Swahili class created lasting memories that her students never forgot.

Many of Mémé’s pupils became her lifelong friends. Former students visited her decades after graduation. Mémé continued to teach until she was seventy-three years old. She would have retired sooner, but she wanted to help her oldest grandson, my dad, pay for medical school. Mémé always believed that education was the key to prosperity and success. Consequently, Mémé was an avid supporter of lifelong learning.

Sadly, Mémé passed away four years ago at the ripe old age of ninety-three. She lived a fantastically full life of travel, friendship, and family. Her dedication to her students and to her own children is a testament to the love she had for the world and to the love the world had for her.

Colt Davis; North Carolina, USA

1. Mémé (pronounced MAY-may) is an affectionate French name for “grandma.”

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