Alexander was born in Naples, Italy, in 1936. His mother came from Prague and was successively a biologist, a classical pianist, a choreographer and a psychologist. His father, a publisher and bibliophile came from an old Neapolitan family .His parents met when his mother was invited to organize a series of classical Greek choreographies that were performed in the newly discovered Roman amphitheater in Pompeii in the early 1930's.In 1943, after the Germans invaded Italy, Alexander and his mother fled to Switzerland as refugees. Over the following years Alexander acquired a degree in literature and Philosophy from the Sorbonne in Paris as well as a MA and a PhD from the Graduate Institute… for International Studies in Geneva. From 1965 to 1975 he worked as a lecturer, consultant and journalist covering China and the Vietnam War for a number of Swiss newspapers. In 1975 he joined the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees where, over the following 20 years, he served in Vientiane, Hanoi, Geneva, Beirut and Bangkok.Alexander Casella lives in Geneva, Switzerland with two cats and his American-born wife and currently writes for Asia Times.