John Henry Silva was born in Chicago to Barbara and Manuel Silva in 1980. His maternal ancestors emigrated from Poland in the late nineteenth century in search of freedom and a better life for their descendants. His father’s family immigrated to the US from Cuba. Fleeing persecution from Fidel Castro’s regime, three generations of the Silva family arrived to Miami together in 1963 as political refugees.

After demonstrating an interest in sculpture and music during his early childhood, John chose to enlist in the US Marine Corps at age sixteen and graduated early from New Trier High School to expedite his military service.

Initially serving in the Marine Infantry, John volunteered for and was subsequently selected to serve The Office of the President. His duties included Anti-Terrorist Specialist and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) at the White House Military Office.

His most significant achievements included service in Washington, DC during
the September, 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks and providing support to the Presidential Protection Division of the US Secret Service on White House
Operations domestic and abroad. For his honorable service John was awarded the Presidential Service Badge.

After serving the Clinton and Bush Administrations in Washington, DC, John
was honorably discharged in June 2002. Returning to Chicago to pursue
undergraduate studies, within eight months John was called into action in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and honorably discharged for a second
time.

After his military service John transferred to Harvard to study The Classics
and Political Philosophy. He is most interested in the nature of classical
education, social patterns discernible through ancient history and
unconventional solutions to future human problems.

John’s community involvement while at Harvard includes teaching
disadvantaged youth at Partners in Education, training athletes for the
Special Olympics, mentoring at Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay and
teaching English and American culture to the Cambridge East Asian community.

John is an Advisory Council Member and New England Representative of The
Apogee Foundation, a charity that supports the gifted youth in the fine arts
throughout the globe.

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HCH: “Who has been your greatest role model in life thus far, and how has what that person has taught you affected your understanding of Humanism?”

JHS: My greatest role model is my mother, Barbara Silva. She was the first
person to teach me what it means to be a Humanist, both in my family and in
her profession. She exposed me to a myriad of great minds as a child, from Homer to Khayyam, Musashi to Voltaire. Along the way, she never defined one culture, worldview or religion to be singular, or imposed supernaturalism upon me. She taught me that human endeavor is so rich and uplifting that to attribute it to supernaturalism dismisses the joy of the human intellect.

My mother has worked for over thirty years as an elementary school teacher
in inner city Chicago. She has been an irrevocably positive force upon
countless children in their most formative years. Yet the benchmark for
professional success in the twenty-first century is often inversely related
to long-term social impact. Healthy competition is all too often perverted
into yearning for short-lived prestige and one-upmanship, incurring great social costs to future generations and the overall progress of humanity.

The greatest crisis of the twenty-first century is the degree to which we
undervalue the significance of pedagogy for our future global citizens. I see my life’s mission as a Humanist as helping to fundamentally redefine how education for children is valued in society. I believe it is a deontological necessity
that the fragile seeds of our species receive nothing short of our absolute
devotion and benevolence. I am striving to write a book on the educational ideal of Paideia and hope one day to create my own foundation facilitating childrens’ education globally.

HCH: I know you’re fond of collecting maxims and quotes from the various ancient languages you study. Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to list here?

JHS: Yes, this is from my favorite Roman satiric poet, Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis:

Maxima debetur puero reverentia.
Translation: The greatest reverence is due to the young.