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International

I talked about it with two colleagues with
whom I’ve written about peace monuments Family sign Revilliod and
and events, Oleksandr Svirckevsky and Family sign De Sellon
Ryan Kennedy, and both agreed it seemed
significant. The planting date was 1832 – but “... both families were
what took place that year that caused the
owner of the premises to plant the tree? It is involved in the ownership for the
the only survivor of three large trees planted grounds of what is now the Palais.”
on the hill of what is now Ariana Park – the
other two were destroyed in a thunderstorm in
1948. The cedar tree was also damaged, losing
two big branches, but survived to witness the
birth of the UN and all events that have been We know the Compte de Sellon dedicated his
taking place at the Palais ever since. life to peace, and that he was the organizer of
the First Congress of Peace. In commemoration
It was originally planted by Revilliod, the of this, to mark the event in 1832, he built the
family that owned the land, during the time Peace Stela, the subject of our previous article
of Leonard Revilliod. Leonard is not so well (Diva International Diplomat no.1/2020).
known as his son Gustav, who offered, through This, along with the Villa, would have been
the City of Geneva, the wonderful Ariana highly visible to the neighbouring vicinity
Park, where our Palais des Nations was built including from the hill in what is now the
in 1926. Gustav is buried in the Park, near the Ariana Park.
library – this was one of the conditions of his
will, along with the requirement that peacocks It was intriguing to trace the possible
should always be free to live and walk here. connection between the obelisk and the tree,
He also offered his art gallery, the Ariana and we felt that there is not only the date (1832),
Museum, named in honour of his mother, but that there exist a stronger connection. This
Ariane, the wife of Leonard. made us look deeper into the history of the De
Sellon and Revilliod families. They were the
However, all of this was much later than the most prominent families of the area and were
tree-planting date of 1832 – the tree would owners, or possibly co-owners, of various
have already been a feature of the Park during properties including the Villa le Bocage (and
Gustav’s life. possibly, of the Villa La Fenetre).

And still… 1832. Intuiton told us that it is not Furthermore, Leonard Revilliod (full name,
a simple coincidence with the date, but that Philippe Leonard Revilliod) married his
there is a link, and maybe even a relationship elder son Charles to Jean-Jacques de Sellon’s
between the date of the planting of the tree daughter Amelie (who became Amelie de
and erection of the Black Marble Obelisk by Sellon-Revilliod) – their heraldic shield is
the Compte Jean-Jacques des Sellon close by, shown above. Therefore, both families were
on another hill, at the Villa La Fenetre. involved in the ownership for the grounds
of what is now the Palais, as well as the well-
Trying to understand and/or to establish the known historical properly of Jean-Jacques
connection, we would have to look back to de Sellon at Rue de Grange 2 in Geneva. In
our original research on Compte Jean-Jacques 1830 this was the main residence of Leonard
de Sellon. De Sellon built the Villa La Fenetre, Revilliod, and later that of his son Charles.
and was the creator of the Peace Society
(1830), which can be considered as a parent The First Congress of the Peace Society was
to the Sociéte des Nations, the future League the only event of note taking place locally in
of Nations, and therefore an ancestor of the 1832, so it may be that the trees, including our
United Nations, and was perhaps the first surviving cedar, were planted in sight of the
international peace society. Stela as part of the commemoration of this

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