“A donkey controls me”: this is how Switzerland spied on Dürrenmatt

LUGANO – Friedrick Dürrenmatt, one of the greatest Swiss writers and playwrights, was spied on for almost half a century, practically until his death in 1990 by the Swiss secret services during the years of the Cold War. The author of “The visit of the old lady”, this is the title of his most famous work, represented in theaters all over the world, from Paris to Rome to New York, was a victim of the real McCarthyist climate which, from the second post-war period to collapse of communism, led to the registration of 800 thousand Swiss citizens as well as resident foreigners, considered a danger to the Confederation only because they are close to leftist parties or, simply, for having visited a country located beyond …