Page 26 - DIVA_1_2020

P e a c e m o n u m e n t s o f G e n e v a

The Column is dedicated to the Peace Society and bears the 19 century, such as the establishment of the Peace Society.
th
inscription “Blessed are the peacemakers”. It is one of the
most significant recent discoveries associated with peace It is unknown if the 1937 acquisition of the villa by the League of
movements. Nations was in recognition of de Sellon’s peace contributions.
Today it belongs to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and
This discovery lead me to examine another property of Count is the residence of the Director-General of UNOG. This is
de Sellon situated in Geneva at Pregny - the Villa La Fenêtre, appropriate, as the UNOG Director-General is UNOG’s
acquired by the League of Nations in 1937. La Fenêtre was most senior figure, and the modern representative of peace
built by de Sellon in 1820 on land he had acquired a year earlier. as Secretary-General of the Conference of Disarmament.
He lived here for 19 years - his most fruitful period of peace
activities. He also died here, and was buried in the grounds. Is there any historical or symbolic link? Perhaps the lingering
atmosphere of the place continues to influence modern
De Sellon also had a residence in Geneva Old Town at Rue peacemaking activities in the UN. What is certain that there
des Granges, inherited from his family. This was the Château were two Peace Monuments at Villa La Fenêtre, listed today
d’Allaman, his only castle, and it gave him social standing to among ‘disappeared’ peace monuments, and at risk of being
promote his ideas in Vaud and Geneva society. It is listed in the forgotten. One of them was well-known in the 1830s, and
Grade 1 Swiss Inventory of Cultural Properly of National and was one of the most unusual peace monuments of the 19
th
Regional Significance. However, Villa La Fenetre remained century. The fate of the second peace monument is more
his favourite place, where many important peace initiatives dramatic – it is listed as a ‘disappeared’ peace monument and
were inspired. Should the villa therefore be taken as the in danger of being forgotten altogether.
starting point for the “Peace Itinerary of Geneva”? Perhaps
Villa La Fenêtre will one day be listed as a peace monument The history of these two earliest peace monuments of Geneva
of national or international importance. is given below - the Black Marble obelisk and The Temple of
Peace and Friendship.
Villa la Fenêtre has not previously been a peace monument,
but probably should be as it was here that de Sellon carried Read our series to learn more about them.
out many of his peace initiatives and also conceived two of
the most important peace monuments. It could, therefore, be Evelina Rioukhina, Ryan Kennedy and
considered the source of many peace initiatives during the early Oleksandr Svirchevsky

Peace Culumn discovery.
Private archives/courtesy.

D I VA - I N T E R N AT I O N A L D I P LO M AT