SCHIRA family is from Loco, Valle Onsernone, Ticino, Switzerland. The famous art editor Albert Skira (1904-1973) originates from this small village. Although his name spelled Schira on his birth certificate, he used Skira when he opened his first art publishing house in Lausanne in 1928 in order to have the correct pronounciation in any language. The American astronaut, Walter (Wally) Schira is also from this family.
The Skira family descends from Jews who arrived from Spain in the XVIIth Century to settle in Switzerland fleeing persecutions.

Photo taken in Aurigeno by Dennis Morelli, 1966. Irma’s Godmother was Erminia Vanoni Morelli.