Sylva Kanderal was born in the former Czechoslovakia. She studied medicine in Brno and obtained her second degree at the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, where she also ran her own practice. She is the mother of two children. With her artistic talent, she attended the Aimé Venel painting school in Zurich and exhibited her works in Europe and in the USA. The many travels she has undertaken inspired her to write a series of short stories.