KOZHIKODE: An Anglo-Indian family here has a close bond with elections. Their surname Vogt, pronounced ‘vote’, is the reason for the curiosity in the family of July Celeena Vogt, who stays near Malabar Christian College (MCC) here. The family’s German roots are behind the name Vogt, which is common in the European country. Every person in the family carries Vogt as his/her surname.
Two of them, July and Alphonsa Vogt, cast their votes at MCC Higher Secondary School on Monday in the third phase of the local body polls. Detailing the history of her surname, July said her husband Albert Vogt’s paternal ancestors hailed from Germany. “My husband’s great grandfather, Albert Vogt, along with his Portuguese wife Clara decided to migrate to Kozhikode after he was appointed the captain of the steamer ship for the British army.
They had 12 children who were born in Kozhikode and later migrated to different parts of the globe. One of them is my father-in-law, Sebastine Boby Vogt, who got married to Alphonsa, who became a Vogt after the marriage,” said July, is a teacher at St Joseph Anglo Indian HSS here. After a woman comes to the Vogt family, it is very important to get adapted to the surname. Thus, July Celeena became July Celeena Vogt. Interestingly, when a woman of the family marries someone, she sometimes replaces the surname with another name.
“In a lighter vein, we say that a woman married off from our family meant she has lost ‘vote’,” smiled July. Her husband Albert Vogt is an expat and his brother is Christopher Vogt.“Albert had not cast a single vote in his lifetime as he will be in Kuwait whenever an election comes,” lamented Alphonsa. Albert has two sisters, Catherine Deborah Vogt and Astrid Margie Vogt, who are married and settled with their families in Kozhikode and Middlesex (England), respectively.
“They still keep their surnames,” says July. July and Albert’s children — Alister Ignatius Vogt and Alisha Mary Vogt — are minors.