Uberto Mash

Uberto Walcherius Mash (June 21, 1910 - December 21 1963) was a Swiss futurist, political theorist, humanist and revolutionary. Mash was an accomplished scholar and political activist and is widely known as one of the founding father's of modern futurist thought.

While Mash’s ideas were not widely disseminated in his lifetime, soon after his death Mash’s writings began to exert influence on the doctrine of numerous futurist groups, most notably the Swiss Futurist Movement (SMPF).

Biography
Childhood

Uberto Mash was born the first of three children in Neuenburg, in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. His father, Aubertus Thorumberto (1893-1963), was a medical practitioner as well as a local councilor. His mother was Matildas (1894-1978); his siblings were Aldrulcus and Hermann. As a child Mash was a excelled in many fields including mountain running and yodeling.

Education

Mash was educated by his parents at home until the age of twelve. After graduating from the local Neuenburg Gymnasium, Mash moved to the canton of Geneva and enrolled in the University of Geneva to study law and international relations. During his time in Geneva, Mash illustrated his staunch secularist and pragmatist beliefs, both through his studies and affiliations. Mash was particularly influenced by the teachings of Professor Holdt who tutored Mash in international relations. Mash’s early writings towards his doctorate, including the thesis “The Virtues of the Systematic Analysis of Theoretical Probability in International Multilateral Relations”, first hint at the unique ideological thought that Uberto would formulate in his later years. Mash received his doctorate in international relations in September 1936 from the University of Geneva.

Post-University Years

Mash concluded his studies and returned to Neuenburg where he worked at a nearby ski lodge for the winter of 1937. The following year Mash traveled to Zürich to take up a position within the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Mash spent five years working there before returning to Geneva in March 1943 following his appointment as a Swiss delegate to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

International Committee of the Red Cross

During World War Two Mash was directly involved in visiting and monitoring of POW camps, as per the committees delegated 1929 revision of the Geneva Convention. Mash traveled to Allied POW camps in both England and France. At the time Nazi Germany, while a signatory to the convention, refused ICRC delegates access to it's POW camps. A deal was eventually struck which would allow ICRC delegates to visit the camps on the condition that they stayed within the camps until the end of the war. Mash volunteered to be one of eleven delegates to enter Nazi Germany. On March 23, 1945, Mash entered Dachau Concentration Camp with Victor Maurer. About 200,000 political prisoners were held in Camp Dachau. During his time there, Mash covertly kept a diary of his experiences which would later provide the basis for his book concerning his time in the ICRC entitled Fences.

Post war activities

After the war Mash resigned from the ICRC and traveled extensively throughout Europe until 1949. During this time Mash penned his memoirs on the war as well as a creative non-fiction travel diary entitled The Malefic Corduroy Jacket and other Tales. Both books were published in French language in Switzerland and France. Both received unfavorable reviews and were commercially unsuccessful. Also during this time Mash sought out others who possessed a interest similar to himself in the area of futurology. Whilst in Germany in 1946 Mash met with Proffesor Ossip K. Flechtheim, credited with coining the term 'futurology'. Mash wrote to Flechteim numerous times in the coming years on the subject, paying considerable attention to Flechteim's belief that futurology could be employed as a new science of predictive probability. In a letter to Fletchteim dated March 17, 1947, Mash writes;

"..the future that is yet to be made effects the present more than all lessons and events of the past. That the present is a product of future hopes and desires is a concept too many fail to understand. Analyzing the probabilities of the future to determine the most likely is surely one of the most powerful agents for the change of the present."

The Swiss Futurist Movement

In 1952, at the age of 42, Mash formed the Swiss Futurist Party (Confédération Suisse Mouvement Politique Futurologie). The SMPF encapsulated Mash's belief in the idea of futurism. The party's mandate included the following;

"To act where is needed, without delay.
To advance where possible, without delay,
That today be an extension of the future."

Mash sought to uncritically embrace speed, technological development and violent change. Mash believed that through analysing the probability of certain outcomes it was possible to dictate the course of action that should be taken in the future. While not wishing to predict the future, Mash was concerned with the restriction of variables and believed that the could be made less unpredictable. The purpose of this line of study was to guide and enable better decision making in the present. Mash taught that the future created the present as it is ones hopes and desires for the future that shape the way they act in the now.

The SMPF gained only a small following in mainly the more rural areas Switzerland, as this demographic was captured by his promise of sweeping reform and modernisation. Mash held a number of public meetings which were moderately attended throughout Switzerland. The SMPF was registered as a political party from 1948 until September 1957. The party failed to secure any seats in it's time as an official party.

Swiss Futurist Movement

In September 1957 the Swiss Futurist Party was disbanded due to financial reasons and pending legal action concerning the misappropriation of campaign finances. The issue was settled out of court with the resolution undisclosed.

Today elements of the SMPF still exist as a clandestine group which name themselves the Swiss Futurist Movement. Members are often referred to as "Mashies" due to the groups reliance on the doctrine of Uberto Mash. Mash was himself a member of the group in the early 1960s before his death.

Death

Uberto Mash died in suspicious circumstances whilst visiting Copenhagen. Mash was found deceased in his hotel room by a maid at 8am on the 21st of December 1963. No one has ever been charged or interviewed over the death. Details of the case are due for release to the public in March of 2015.

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