Hilda Strauss, the great lady of television and radio, has died

For Irene Robledo Strauss, daughter of Hilda Strauss, announcer, presenter and businesswoman, her mother “was an example in every way: in generosity, respect, elegance. She left me strength as a legacy, the constancy of carrying out works, of doing work and of humanity, especially the latter, because she was a woman who always took others into account ”.

On the morning of December 20, Hilda Strauss Cortissoz died at the Country clinic in Bogotá.at 89 years old.

Born in Barranquilla, she was one of the initiators of television in Colombia and was also part of the radio. For 37 years she broadcast her program ‘Hilda Strauss Radio’.

She was the author of books such as ‘Evolution’, ‘The only way; The mystical life of Jesus’ and ‘Secrets of positive energy’, among others.

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And precisely about 10 years ago, at a Bogotá Book Fair, Hilda Strauss Cortissoz was the sensation. Upon her arrival in Corferias, a large number of her followers approached her. The escort of two policemen was necessary so that she could go to the room where she was going to present one of her spirituality books.

She, as Édgar Hozzman, writer and journalist, says, “was a very warm and kind lady” and that’s the way it was with her followers, who are now in their third generation thanks to ‘Hilda Struss Radio’, where he spoke to them about spiritual issues and how to be better people.

Because that’s what Hilda Strauss dedicated a good part of her life to. She recounted that “spiritual restlessness is something that is born with one, remains in life and matures, and manifests itself in many ways. As a child, one of my sources was my father, an honest and objective German who talked to us about the subject on a daily basis. Later, I met spiritual guides with precious missions, I traveled a lot, I have meditated a lot, completing and enriching this vocation to investigate supernatural themes, ”she said in an interview with EL TIEMPO.

Hilda Strauss was born on October 22, 1933 and was the granddaughter of Ernesto Cortissoz, one of the forgers of commercial aviation in Colombia. In his own way, he flew as high as his grandfather.

During her life she was a model, radio announcer and television presenter. And she also formed her natural products company.

About her radio life, she said that it was her friend Ricardo Char, who at a fashion show in Barranquilla, in which she participated, asked her to “say something” and apparently she did quite well because from that moment she began to educate her voice for this medium. She proudly showed her voiceover license, 2229 from the Ministry of Communications of Colombia.

Mother of three children, Hilda Strauss separated very young and began working to support them. In 1958 he entered television, did live commercials for Piel Roja and Naranja Postobón cigarettes, a soda that he offered at his house, as well as desserts, and since he had no one to leave his children with, he took them to the studios, with the express order to behave well while she did her chores.

Also, it presented fashion and children’s programs. For the former, he saw how little or nothing came from the fashion shows of the big brands, held in Paris, Rome or New York, and what the magazines of the time offered.

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‘La Radio de Hilda Strauss’ was born in 1985. The well-known presenter had already passed through radio spaces of the big networks where women were not taken into account but where she began to talk about the environment, spirituality and esoteric topics. They criticized her a lot and even demanded her sources.

“In the past, healthy living, ecology and true spirituality were seen as inelegant content, the stuff of witches; Today, more is known about Buddhism or meditation ”, he recounted.

In his program, from Monday to Friday from 9 to 11 am, the generational change also took place. Her daughters Irene and Irma, and her grandson Nicolás Bejarano learned from her and will continue to lead this proposal that, as Hilda Strauss said, “does not compete with the big broadcasters”, but does have its loyal audience.

“My mom taught people from ironing a shirt or removing a stain from clothes to the most intricate mystical and esoteric topics, with very simple language. Hence her closeness to so many people that she considered and we consider family.

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Armando Plata Camacho, a well-known radio and television broadcaster and president of the Colombian Association of Announcers, wrote on his networks: “She was a permanent benefactor of the ACL and under her presidency numerous improvements were made to our headquarters and she was always a defender of the unionization”.

His memory, moreover, was prodigious. She remembered the great characters on radio and television. Even Seki Sano, who was brought to Colombia to train actors, was her teacher and she had him in her mind.

In his last interview with EL TIEMPO, in November of last year, he spoke of his retirement: “I have already withdrawn from so many things and I have restarted so many others. In the Tibetan tradition each cutting point is known as a ‘Bardo’, and I have had so many. My definitive retirement, and on it, of course, that I have thought and meditated on, will be when I leave this existence, the last Bardo”.

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OLGA LUCIA MARTINEZ