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

capital punishment in his criminal code of Louisiana. I do not remember seeing the obelisk, or hearing anything
VICTOR DE TRACY- who proposed to the French about it. I searched the archives, and although the obelisk
Chamber of Deputies, to substitute solitary confinement, for was mentioned, references seemed to vanish after a certain
punishment by death. point. Certainly, when the villa was acquired by the League of
WILBERFORCE - whose successful efforts to suppress the Nations in 1937, the obelisk was no longer there. It was in the
Slave trade, rank him high among the friends of humanity. villa in the 19th century, and then suddenly it seemed to vanish
CASIMIR PERIER - late prime minister of France - without a trace. I searched deeper, to discover the reason
distinguished for his efforts in preserving the peace of behind this and find the obelisk, or at least an explanation for
Europe. the disappearance of such a significant memorial.

On the fourth side of the obelisk is recorded the date of the After much research, I came across some information of the
establishment of the Geneva Peace Society. burial place of the Count de Sellon at the Cemetery of the
You may traverse Europe through, and find everywhere triumphal Petit-Saconnex. There was no photo, but it stated that his
arches, and monuments, and inscriptions, but you will seek in commemorative stone is in the form of an obelisk. Could
vain for a parallel to this-dedicated by individual liberality to it be his peace monument? I immediately went to see, but
those men, who, in countries, widely separated, have laboured, to searched the whole cemetery without finding it.
promote the cause of universal and permanent peace….”
Where could it be? I researched further and learnt that it was
Reading those archives and descriptions was fascinating, but at the Petit-Saconnex Cemetery only until 2005 and then
also bewildering. Having often been to the Villa La Fenêtre, removed. Looking through many sources, I learnt that this
obelisk was in La Fenêtre until
1907, 70 years after the death
of de Sellon, and only then
transferred to Petit-Saconnex.
I tried to search further about
why the family decided to move
it, and found that Count de
Sellon was first buried near it, at
the Villa. The obelisk was one of
the most significant creations in
his life; it symbolized all his most
important undertakings. One
source even mentions that it was
in his own wish to be buried near
his peace monument, conceived
and erected by him.

The reason for his reburial him
remains unknown. It might also
be that during this transfer, an
additional engraving indicating
the death of de Sellon and his
wife appeared on the obelisk.
Left in the Cemetery of Petit-
Saconnex for 99 years, it
doubtless became thought of as
no more than a gravestone, not
as a significant historic peace
monument.
Photos: Oleksandr Svirchevsky Eventually I found where

it is today. In view of the
importance of de Sellon, it
was decided to inaugurate the
obelisk at the Cemetery des
Rois at the Plainpalais, which
has many graves of significant
and outstanding people.

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