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{{Short description|Swiss writer and humanitarian activist (1886–1976)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Jacques Chenevière
| image = JacquesCheneviere 1923.jpg
| signature = Signature JacquesCheneviere 1929.jpg
| caption = (1923)
}}
'''Jacques-Louis-Edmond Chenevière'''<ref>{{Cite journal|date=30 June 1920|title=État-civil de Neuchâtel|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=LSL19200730-01.2.15&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN--------0-----|journal=[[La Suisse Libérale]]|language=fr|volume=56|issue=177|pages=3|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> (17 April 1886, [[Paris]] – 22 April 1976, [[Bellevue, Switzerland|Bellevue GE, Switzerland]]), commonly known as Jacques Chenevière, was a [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[poet]], [[Libretto|librettist]] and [[novelist]] from a [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|Patrician family]] in [[Geneva]]. For more than sixty years, he also served as a [[Humanitarianism|humanitarian]] [[official]] in top-positions of [[management]] and [[Organization|organisation]] at the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] (ICRC).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Diego Fiscalini|title=Des élites au service d'une cause humanitaire: le Comité International de la Croix-Rouge|publisher=Université de Genève, faculté des lettres, département d’histoire|year=1985|location=Geneva|pages=18, 20, 137–138|language=fr}}</ref>

The award-winning author, whose father [[Adolphe Chenevière]] (1855–1917) was a critically acclaimed man of letters as well, wrote in [[French language|French]] and became most famous for his works of [[psychological fiction]]. The external contexts of the plots were mostly set in Paris, Geneva or [[Provence]]. His ''[[Work of art|Œuvre]]'' comprises ten novels, two books of poems as well as several [[essay]]s, [[lyrics]] and [[novella]]s. He was widely considered to be one of the most important representatives of literature from [[Romandy]] in the 20th century.<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|date=18 April 1966|title=M. Jacques Chenevière a 80 ans|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=FDV19660418-01.2.5&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN--------0-----|journal=Journal et Feuille d'Avis du Valais|volume=64|issue=88|pages=1|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref>

Shortly after the beginning of the [[World War I|First World War]], Chenevière took up a leading role in the [[International Committee of the Red Cross|International Prisoners-of-War Agency]] (IPWA). In 1919 he was elected as a member of the ICRC and in 1923 became its director-general. During the Second World War he was appointed the director of the Central Information Agency on Prisoners-of-War as well as of the Central Bureau of the ICRC. In 1945, he rose to be its vice-president for the first time. Within the ICRC leadership he belonged to the [[Legalism (Western philosophy)|legalistic]] group which prevented a public denounciation of the [[Nazism|Nazi]]-[[State terrorism|terror regime]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Favez|first=Jean-Claude|title=The Red Cross and the Holocaust|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1999|isbn=2735108384|location=Cambridge|pages=47, 50–51, 61, 64, 70, 75, 86, 89, 91, 95, 106, 150, 153, 171, 178, 198–200, 248, 286|translator-last=Fletcher|translator-first=John|translator-last2=Fletcher|translator-first2=Beryl}}</ref> In recent years, the ICRC has recognised that its silence about [[The Holocaust|the holocaust]] was «the greatest failure» in its history.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|date=2005-01-27|title=Commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz|url=https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/statement/68zeb2.htm|access-date=2021-09-27|website=ICRC|language=en-us}}</ref>

Chenevière remained a regular member of the ICRC for half a century, which made him the one with the second-longest term of office in the history of the organisation. Upon his retirement in 1969 he was made an honorary member. A decade earlier he had been appointed as the first ever honorary vice-president of the ICRC.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|date=October 1969|title=Hommage à M. Jacques Chenevière|url=https://international-review.icrc.org/sites/default/files/S0035336100115837a.pdf|journal=Revue internationale de la Croix-Rouge|language=fr|issue=612|pages=768–770}}</ref>

== Life ==

=== Family background ===
[[File:JeanJacquesCatonCheneviere-ByFaedoMAgnat BibliothequeDeGeneveIconographie.jpg|thumb|Jean-Jacques-Caton Chenevière, ca. 1870, from the collections of the ''Centre d’iconographie de la Bibliothèque de Genève'' (BGE)]]
Chenevière's paternal family originated from [[L'Arbresle|L’Arbresle]] near [[Lyon]]. Since many of his forefathers were [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[pastor]]s, it may be assumed that they like many other [[Huguenots]] fled to Geneva because of the [[French Wars of Religion]]. In 1631, the Chenevières obtained Genevan [[citizenship]]. Their descendants are thus officially amongst the ten oldest families of the city.<ref name=":0" /> Jacques Chenevière's great-grandfather was [[Jean-Jacques-Caton Chenevière]] (1783–1871), who became a professor of [[dogmatic theology]] and played a major role in Genevan politics of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fatio|first=Olivier|date=14 July 2005|title=Chenevière, Jean-Jacques-Caton|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/011086/2005-07-14/|access-date=2021-09-28|website=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS)|language=de}}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| image1 = ArthurCheneviere ByAndréAdolphe-EugeneDisder BibliothequeDeGeneveIconographiei.jpg
| image2 = Susanne-Firmine Munier-Chenevière ca1880 byEmile Pricam BibliothequeDeGeneveIconographie.jpg
| footer = The Genevan grandparents Arthur and Susanne-Firmine around 1864 and 1880 respectively (BGE collections)
| total_width = 330
}}

Jacques Chenevière's grandfather [[Arthur Chenevière]] (1822–1908) worked at the ''Banque Bonna & Cie'' which became what is today the [[private bank]] [[Bank Lombard Odier & Co|Lombard Odier & Co]], one of the biggest players in the Swiss [[Financial services|financial sector]]. In 1868, he founded the ''[[Banque Chenevière & Cie]]'' and later also became a board member of [[BNP Paribas]] and other banks. At the same time, he was the controversial leader of the ''Parti indépendant'' («Independent Party»). During a feud about election results in 1864 some of his supporters even had a bloody shoot-out in the city centre with followers of a rival party. Between 1864 and 1871, he led the [[treasury]] of the [[canton of Geneva]], before serving as a member of the [[Grand Council of Geneva]] until 1888 and as a member of the [[National Council (Switzerland)|National Council]] from 1878 until 1884.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Burgy|first=Etienne|date=14 July 2005|title=Chenevière, Arthur|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/003858/2005-07-14/|access-date=2021-09-28|website=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS)|language=de}}</ref> Arthur Chenevière was married to Susanne-Firmine Munier, a daughter of the influential theologian [[David-François Munier]] (1798-1872).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fatio|first=Olivier|date=13 February 2009|title=Munier, David-François|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/011256/2009-02-13/|access-date=2021-09-28|website=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS)|language=de}}</ref> A street in [[Cologny]], one of the wealthiest municipalities in Switzerland, is named after the couple.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chemin CHENEVIÈRE-MUNIER {{!}} Noms géographiques du canton de Genève|url=https://ge.ch/noms-geographiques/voie/geneve/chemin-cheneviere-munier|access-date=2021-09-28|website=République et Canton de Genève|language=fr}}</ref> The plot of land, where the Villa Chenevière used to be, is nowadays the seat of the [[World Economic Forum]] (WEF).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cologny, Haut-Ruth: villa Chenevière|url=https://bge-geneve.ch/iconographie/oeuvre/vg-p-0988|access-date=2021-09-28|website=Bibliothèque de Genève Iconographie|language=fr}}</ref>

While two sons of Arthur and Susanne-Firmine became bankers as well and their daughter married the founder of the Union Bank (later [[UBS]]),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rossellat|first=Lionel|title=Généalogie de Arthur Chenevière|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/rossellat?lang=fr&n=cheneviere&oc=1&p=arthur|access-date=2021-09-28|website=Geneanet|language=fr}}</ref> their brother Adolphe did not pursue his career as an [[advocate]] but instead became a novelist and essayist. The four siblings thus embodied the development of their Patrician class, which <blockquote>«turned to [[bank]]ing and [[Philanthropy|philanthropic]] activities at the end of the 19th century, after losing control of the major public offices in Geneva.»<ref>{{Cite web|last=Meyre|first=Camille|date=2020-03-12|title=Renée-Marguerite Frick-Cramer|url=https://blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/renee-marguerite-frick-cramer/|access-date=2021-09-28|website=Cross-Files {{!}} ICRC Archives, audiovisual and library|language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>Adolphe moved to Paris around 1880, where he worked as a literary critic at the prestigious ''[[Revue des deux Mondes|Revue des Deux Mondes]],''<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Mayor|first=Jean-Claude|title=Chemins et visages de Cologny|publisher=Commune de Cologny|year=1991|location=Cologny|pages=173–178, 268–269|language=fr}}</ref> which is today the oldest still existing cultural magazine in Europe. Jacques’ mother Blanche (1865–1911), née Lugol, originated from an area close to [[Nîmes]], where her family owned the [[Winery|wine-growing estate]] of ''Campuget''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Photocopies de documents concernant la famille de Mme Adolphe Chenevière, née Blanche Lugol, [mère de Jacques Chenevière]|url=https://archives.bge-geneve.ch/ark:/17786/vta5cf6fbdc247ba679|access-date=2021-09-28|website=Bibliothèque de Genève - Manuscrits et archives privées|language=fr-fr}}</ref> In his youth, Jacques Chenevière spent much of his holidays in Provence<ref>{{Cite journal|date=29 January 1951|title=Poetisches Panorama der Provence|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=DTT19510129-01.2.56&srpos=1&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22Poetisches+Panorama+der+Provence%22-------0-----|journal=Die Tat|language=de|volume=16|issue=27|pages=8|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> and [[Languedoc]], which evidently inspired his literary works.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bachmann|first=Jakob|date=4 April 1970|title=Jacques Chenevière|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=DTT19700404-01.2.246&srpos=10&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%c3%a8re%22+%22Les+Captives%22-------0-----|journal=Die Tat|language=de|volume=35|issue=78|pages=34|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> The critic [[Charlotte König-von Dach]] argued that Jacques' mother gave him <blockquote>«the sparkling verve, the luster, and the mobility of poetic intuition as gifts from the ''[[Southern France|Midi de la France]]'', in contrast to the heavier calvinist-protestant blood of Geneva».<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=von Dach|first=Charlotte|date=5 December 1943|title=Jacques Chenevière|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=DBB19431205-01.2.27.3&srpos=2&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%c3%a8re%22+%22Mutter%22-------0-----|journal=Der Kleine Bund – Literarische Beilage des Bunds|volume=94|issue=569|pages=386–387|via=e-newspaperarchives.com}}</ref></blockquote>Jacques Chenevière grew up as a ''[[de facto]]'' single-child, since his younger brother André Alfred died in 1888 shortly after birth.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|last=Rossellat|first=Lionel|title=Généalogie de Jacques Chenevière|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/rossellat?lang=fr&n=cheneviere&oc=0&p=jacques|access-date=2021-09-28|website=Geneanet|language=fr}}</ref>

=== Education and early career ===
[[File:AdolpheCheneviere-IPWA-WWI-ICRC-AV-Archives-V-P-HIST-03117-09.jpg|thumb|Adolphe Chenevière around 1914 (from the [[audiovisual archives]] of the [[International Committee of the Red Cross archives|ICRC Archives]])]]
Chenevière spent his childhood and youth in Paris during the cultural heyday of the ''[[Belle Époque]]''. Thanks to his privileged family background he had access to gatherings of artists like the famous ''salon'' of the painter [[Madeleine Lemaire]] (1845–1928).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dutoit|first=Ernest|date=1 October 1966|title=Quand Jacques Chenevière regarde par-dessus son épaule|journal=[[Journal de Genève]]}}</ref> At a young age already he thus had personal encounters with luminaries like novelist [[Marcel Proust]] (1871–1922), the composer [[Reynaldo Hahn]] (1874–1947) and the stage actress [[Sarah Bernhardt]] (1844–1923).<ref name="de Rougemont 27, 30">{{Cite journal|last=de Rougemont|first=Denis|date=22 October 1966|title=Jacques Chenevière ou la précision des sentiments|url=https://www.unige.ch/rougemont/articles/glaus/19661022|journal=Gazette de Lausanne (Supplément littéraire)|pages=27, 30|access-date=27 September 2021|archive-date=12 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112085130/https://www.unige.ch/rougemont/articles/glaus/19661022|url-status=dead}}</ref> Meanwhile, he received his secondary school education at the elitist Lycées ''[[Lycée Carnot|Carnot]]''<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Meylan|first=Jean-Pierre|title=La Revue de Genève, miroir des lettres europeénnes, 1920–1930|publisher=[[Librairie Droz]]|year=1969|isbn=978-2-600-03493-7|location=Geneva|pages=23, 33–42}}</ref> and ''[[Lycée Condorcet|Condorcet]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=B.|first=M.|title=Ceux qui s'en vont: Hommage à Jacques Chenevière|journal=Le Courrier}}</ref> He subsequently graduated from ''[[Sorbonne University|Sorbonne Université]]'' with a degree in [[humanities]].<ref name=":2" />

In 1906, Chenevière published his first poems in the ''[[Revue de Paris]]''. Three years later, a Parisian publishing company published his first book of poems: ''Les beaux jours'' («The beautiful days»). The ''[[Académie Française]]'' honoured the debut with the ''Prix Archon-Despérouses'', an award for young poets.<ref name=":2" /> Shortly afterwards, Chenevière was commissioned by the French composer [[Louis Aubert]] (1877–1968) to write the lyrics for the ''[[Opéra comique|Opéra-comique]]'' ''La forêt bleue'' («The blue forest»), which premiered in [[Boston]] at the end of 1911.<ref>{{Cite web|title=La forêt bleue (Aubert, Louis)|url=https://imslp.org/wiki/La_for%C3%AAt_bleue_(Aubert,_Louis)|access-date=2021-09-28|website=International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) / Petrucci Music Library}}</ref>

When Chenevière's mother suddenly died in late 1911 from an [[embolism]] at the age of 46 years,<ref>{{Cite journal|date=6 November 1911|title=Deuil|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k289393z/texteBrut|journal=Figaro|language=fr}}</ref> he increasingly turned towards Geneva, which he only knew from the holidays he spent there.<ref name=":2" /> Hence, he started developing a life-long friendship with the Genevan composer and [[Music education|music educator]] [[Émile Jaques-Dalcroze]] (1865–1950),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Martin |first=Frank |display-authors=etal|title=Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. L'homme, le compositeur, le créateur de la rythmique|publisher=La Baconnière|year=1965|location=Neuchâtel|pages=573–580}}</ref> the founder of [[Dalcroze eurhythmics]]. Chenevière wrote the lyrics for the chorus of Jaques-Dalcroze's [[Mime artist|miming]] piece ''Eco e Narciso'' («[[Echo and Narcissus]]»), which premiered in 1912 at Jaques-Dalcroze's newly opened [[Festspielhaus Hellerau|Hellerau Festival House]] near [[Dresden]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Madureira|first=José Rafael|url=https://www.academia.edu/4389160|title=Émile Jaques-Dalcroze. Sobre a experiência poética da rítmica – uma exposição em 9 quadros inacabados|publisher=Universidade estadual de Campinas, faculdade de educação|year=2008|location=Campinas|pages=58, 183|language=pt}}</ref>

In 1913, Chenevière published his second book of poems: ''La chambre et le jardin'' («The chamber and the garden»). Many of the poems were also syndicated to the ''Revue de Paris'', the ''Revue des Deux Mondes'', for which his father worked, and to Swiss papers.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=6 February 1943|title=Conférence Jacques Chenevière|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=OTB19430206-01.2.24.1&srpos=11&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%c3%a8re%22+%22Beaux+jours%22-------0-----|journal=Oberländer Tagblatt|language=fr|volume=67|issue=31|pages=4|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> In early 1914, Chenevière<ref>{{Cite journal|date=23 April 1976|title=Genève: mort d'un homme de lettres, ancien membre du CICR|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=LLE19760423-01.2.20|journal=La Liberté|language=fr|volume=105|issue=169|pages=3|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> and his father moved from Paris to Geneva.<ref name=":3" />

=== World War I ===
{{Multiple image
| direction = vertical
| total_width = 230
| image1 = ICRC V-P-HIST-00581-12.JPG
| caption1 = At a directors meeting (right)
| image2 = V-P-HIST-03557-05.jpg
| caption2 = left, with his co-director Marguerite Cramer and the archivist [[Étienne Clouzot]] (1881–1944), photographed by [[Frédéric Boissonnas]] (1858–1946)
| header = Chenevière at the IPWA (images from the ICRC Archives)
| caption3 = Chenevière (left) with Cramer, Clouzot and ICRC-secretary-general [[Paul des Gouttes]] (right)
| image3 = IPWA JacquesCheneviere EtienneClouzot ICRC-AV-Archives V-P-HIST-03557-01.jpg
}}

Shortly after the outbreak of the [[First World War]] in 1914, the ICRC under its president [[Gustave Ador]] established the [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement#World War I|International Prisoners-of-War Agency]] (IPWA) to trace [[Prisoner of war|POWs]] and to re-establish communications with their respective families. Chenevière was one of the first to register as a volunteer at the IPWA in September.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=7 September 1944|title=Les 30 ans d'activité de M. Chenevière|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=NVE19440907-01.2.7&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN--------0-----|journal=Le Nouvelliste|language=fr|volume=41|issue=209|pages=2|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> He was joined by his father.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|date=9 July 1917|title=Adolphe Chenevière|url=https://www.letempsarchives.ch/page/JDG_1917_07_09/2/article/10493223/%22Adolphe%20Chenevi%C3%A8re%22|journal=Journal de Genève|language=fr|volume=88|issue=187|pages=2|via=letempsarchives.ch}}</ref> The Austrian writer and [[Pacifism|pacifist]] [[Stefan Zweig]] described the situation during those early days at the agency as follows:<blockquote>«Hardly had the first blows been struck when cries of anguish from all lands began to be heard in Switzerland. Thousands who were without news of fathers, husbands, and sons in the battlefields, stretched despairing arms into the void. By hundreds, by thousands, by tens of thousands, letters and [[Telegraphy|telegrams]] poured into the little House of the Red Cross in Geneva, the only international rallying point that still remained. Isolated, like stormy [[petrel]]s, came the first inquiries for missing relatives; then these inquiries themselves became a storm. The letters arrived in sackfuls. Nothing had been prepared for dealing with such an inundation of misery. The Red Cross had no space, no organization, no system, and above all no helpers.»<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zweig|first=Stefan|url=https://archive.org/details/romainrollandman00zweirich|title=Romain Rolland; the man and his work|publisher=T. Seltzer|year=1921|location=New York|pages=268|translator-last=Eden|translator-first=Paul|translator-last2=Cedar|translator-first2=Paul}}</ref></blockquote>However, by the end of 1914 there were already some 1,200 volunteers working at the IPWA which was then housed inside the ''[[Musée Rath]]''. Amongst them was the French novelist and pacifist [[Romain Rolland]],<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Schazmann|first=Paul-Emile|date=February 1955|title=Romain Rolland et la Croix-Rouge: Romain Rolland, Collaborateur de l'Agence internationale des prisonniers de guerre|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/289714/files/S1026881200125735.pdf|format=PDF|journal=[[International Review of the Red Cross]]|language=fr|volume=37|issue=434|pages=140–143|doi=10.1017/S1026881200125735|s2cid=144703916 }}</ref> who was given his initial tasks by Chenevière.<ref name="de Rougemont 27, 30"/> When Rolland was awarded the [[Nobel Prize for Literature]] for 1915, he donated half of the [[prize money]] to the Agency.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:LesPremiersSouvenirs1918 JaquesDalcroze-Cheneviere ByFredBoissonnas BibliothequeDeGeneveIconographie-FBB P PH m 03-14.jpg|thumb|Children in ''Les premiers souvenirs'', composed by Jaques-Dalcroze with lyrics by Chenevière, photographed by Boissonnas (BGE-collections)]]
Most of the staff were women though. Some of them came from the [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|Patrician]] class of Geneva and joined the IPWA because of male relatives in high ICRC positions, which was all-male for more than half century. This group included female pioneers like the [[Jurist|legal scholar]] and [[historian]] [[Marguerite Frick-Cramer|Marguerite Cramer]], the [[Art history|art historian]] [[Marguerite Gautier-van Berchem|Marguerite van Berchem]], and the [[Dalcroze eurhythmics]] educator [[Suzanne Ferrière]]. The connection between the Chenevières came through family tradition and bonds as well: Adolphe's younger brother Edmond (1862–1932) was married to a daughter of the Milanese banker Charles Brot, who played a role when the ICRC was founded. The wife of Adolphe's older brother Alfred-Maurice (1848–1926) was related to the families of ICRC co-founder [[Gustave Moynier]] (1826–1910) and of his successor Ador.<ref name=":0" />

Under those conditions, Chenevière quickly rose to become the co-director of the IPWA department which was responsible for the [[Triple Entente]] of the [[Russian Empire]], the [[French Third Republic]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chenevière|first=Jacques|date=1967|title=Some Reminiscences – The First «Prisoners of War Agency» Geneva 1914–1918|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/RC_Jun-1967.pdf|journal=International Review of the Red Cross|volume=75|issue=294|pages=291–299|doi=10.1017/S0020860400082528}}</ref> Upon the suggestion of his co-director Cramer they established a system,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pache|first=Nicolas|date=16 July 2014|title=Bern/Genf: Das IKRK erlebt seine Feuertaufe. Tag für Tag bis zu 30 000 Briefe und Pakete|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=WAB20140716-01.2.20.2&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22marguerite+cramer%22-------0-----|journal={{ill|Walliser Bote|de}}|language=de|volume=174|issue=162|pages=15|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> which could cope with the flood of incoming information through [[index card]]s and catalogues.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Palmieri|first=Daniel|url=https://library.icrc.org/library/multimedialinks/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Flibrary.icrc.org%2Flibrary%2Fdocs%2FDOC%2Ficrc-001-4220.pdf&noticeId=42788|title=Les procès-verbaux de l'Agence internationale des prisonniers de guerre (AIPG)|publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross|year=2014|location=Geneva|pages=22|format=PDF}}</ref>

At the same time, Chenevière established himself further in the cultural life of Geneva. Most notably, he joined the [[child psychologist]] [[Édouard Claparède]] (1873–1940) and his brother-in-law [[Auguste de Morsier]] (1864–1923), a prominent proponent of [[Women's suffrage in Switzerland|women's suffrage]], to collect funds for Jaques-Dalcroze who was thus able to found his own institute in October 1915. The academy still exists today in the [[Eaux-Vives]] quarter of Geneva in the building which was purchased at the time from those donations.<ref name=":4" /> Chenevière also supported [[Georges Pitoëff]], a student of Jaques-Dalcroze, when he founded his theatre group.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stadler|first=Edmund|date=1950|title=Georges Pitoëff und die Schweiz|url=https://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=arb-008%3A1950%3A26%3A%3A52&referrer=search#52|journal=Nachrichten der Vereinigung schweizerischer Bibliothekare und der Schweizerischen Vereinigung für Dokumentation|language=de|volume=26|issue=1|pages=45|via=e-periodica.ch}}</ref>

Moreover, Chenevière continued to work on his own literary career: in 1917, his first novel was published under the title ''L’île déserte'' («The lonely island») by ''[[Éditions Grasset|Éditions Bernard Grasset]]'', one of the most important literary publishing companies in France. The plot about a Parisian man and a woman who get stranded on a [[polynesia]]n [[atoll]] and gradually overcome their mutual resentments, was a scandalous [[Insult|affront]] for large swaths of the Calvinist-[[Puritans|puritan]] upper-class.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marteau|first=Jean|date=1950|title=La Croix-Rouge et les lettres. Jacques Chenevière|url=https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=acf-002%3A1949%3A59%3A%3A463|format=PDF|journal=La Croix-Rouge Suisse|language=fr|volume=59|issue=5|pages=23–24|doi=10.5169/seals-558546|via=e-periodica.ch}}</ref> It is a striking example of Chenevière's «biting [[satire]] of the Genevan society which was imprisoned in its corset of [[moralism]]».<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|last=Francillon|first=Roger|date=14 July 2005|title=Chenevière, Jacques|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/016039/2005-07-14/|access-date=2021-09-29|website=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS)|language=de}}</ref>

At the end of 1917, just a few months after Chenevière's father Adolphe had died at the age of 63 years,<ref name=":5" /> the ICRC received its first [[Nobel Peace Prize]] (ICRC founder [[Henry Dunant]] had been ousted because of his personal [[bankruptcy]] by co-founder Moynier and hence received the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 as an individual). It was the only prize awarded during the war years. Chenevière as the co-director of the Entente-department at the IPWA had contributed accordingly to the honour.

Shortly before the end of the war, Jaques-Dalcroze premiered in his institute the eurhythmic show ''Les premiers souvenirs'' («The first memories») for which Chenevière had written the lyrics.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=14 June 1918|title=Les "Premiers souvenirs" à l'Institut Jaques-Dalcroze|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=TDG19180614-05.2.12&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN--------0-----|journal=La Tribune de Genève|language=fr|volume=40|issue=141|pages=4|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref>

=== Between the World Wars ===
[[File:VillaHauteriveCologny1908 BibliothequeDeGeneveIconographie-jds01coy039.jpg|thumb|The ''Villa Hauterive'' in 1908 (BGE)]]
In November 1919, the ICRC assembly voted for Chenevière to become its member.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=25 November 1919|title=Au Comité international de la Croix-Rouge|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=TDG19191125-01.2.13.2&srpos=7&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%C3%A8re%22-------0--fr---|journal=La Tribune de Genève|language=fr|volume=41|issue=275|pages=4|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> He subsequently worked in several commissions of the organisation, e.g. the one which decided upon the foreign missions of delegates and those which conducted negotiations with the newly founded [[International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies|League of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies]].<ref name=":0" />
[[File:JacquesCheneviere1923 ICRC-AVarchives-V-F-CR-H-00013-B.webm|thumb|Excerpt from a film of a meeting of the assembly of the ICRC members in 1923. Chenevière is clearly recognisable as standing on the right in the first sequence (ICRC AV-Archives)]]
In August 1920, Chenevière and Marguerite Oehl got married in [[Neuchâtel]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=13 August 1920|title=État-civil de Neuchâtel|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=LSL19200813-01.2.13&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN--------0-----|journal=La Suisse Libérale|language=fr|volume=56|issue=189|pages=3|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> The bride, who was thirteen years younger than the groom, had graduated in the previous year with a diploma from the ''Institut Jaques-Dalcroze.''<ref>{{Cite journal|date=3 July 1919|title=Institut Jaques-Dalcroze|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=TDG19190703-01.2.12.17|journal=La Tribune de Genève|language=fr|volume=41|issue=155|pages=4|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> The couple moved into the luxurious ''Villa Hauterive'' («High Shore») in Cologny. The estate had originally been owned by the [[Turrettini (surname)|Turrettini]] family of prominent theologians. Before the Chenevières it had hosted other famous tenants, amongst them the [[Austrians|Austrian]]-[[Hungarians|Hungarian]] composer [[Franz Liszt]] (1811–1886), the Swiss [[Landscape painting|landscape painter]] [[Barthélemy Menn]] (1815–1893) and the French landscape painter [[Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot|Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot]] (1796–1875), as well as the French [[artillery]] officer [[Alfred Dreyfus]] (1859–1935) after his acquittal in the [[Dreyfus affair]].<ref name=":3" />

The Chenevières lived in the mansion for a dozen years and made it a centre of ''romand'' and French [[high culture]]. Regular guests in their salon were the literary writers [[Gonzague de Reynold]] (1880–1970), [[Robert de Traz]] (1884–1951), [[Edmond Jaloux]] (1878–1949), [[Valery Larbaud]] (1881–1957), [[François Mauriac]] (1885–1970), [[Guy de Pourtalès]] (1881–1941) and [[Paul Valéry]] (1871–1945) as well as the composers [[Igor Stravinsky|Igor Strawinsky]] (1882–1971) and Jaques-Dalcroze.<ref name=":3" /> In 1922, Jacques Chenevière once more wrote lyrics for the grandmaster of eurhythmics, this time for ''La fête de la jeunesse et de la joie'' («The festival of youth and joy»).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stadler|first=Edmund|date=2 July 1965|title=Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. Zum 100. Geburtstag des Komponisten und Musikpädagogen|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=DBB19650702-01.2.22.2.3&srpos=88&e=-------de-20--81--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%c3%a8re%22-------0--de---|journal=Der Bund|language=de|volume=116|issue=276|pages=6|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref>
[[File:PortraitOfJacquesCheneviere PaintedByJeanLouisGampert BibliothequeDeGeneve0526 0.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Chenvière, painted in 1924 by Genevan artist [[Jean-Louis Gampert]] (1884-1942), from the BGE collections]]
In 1923, ICRC president Ador – who was Chenevière's nextdoor neighbour in Cologny<ref name=":3" /> – appointed him as director-general.<ref name=":0" /> Since the end of the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|Greco-Turkish War]] in the previous year a relatively calm period set in which lasted until the beginning of the [[Chaco War]] in 1932. This left Chenevière with more time for his literary activities:

In 1925, Chenevière took over the co-editorship of the ''[[Bibliothèque universelle et Revue de Genève]]'',<ref name=":7" /> which supported the principal mission of the Geneva-based [[League of Nations]] to foster international understanding and maintain [[world peace]]. With his childhood friend de Traz,<ref name=":2" />  who like him was born in Paris as the son of a Swiss father and a French mother,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jakubec|first=Doris|date=11 May 2012|title=Revue de Genève|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/024587/2012-05-11/|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS)|language=de}}</ref> he especially promoted the revival of literary exchanges between the German- and French-speaking worlds. In this context they managed, for instance, to make the works by [[Thomas Mann]] and [[Rainer Maria Rilke]] socially acceptable in France again. The monthly magazine was published until 1930.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Charrier|first=Landry|url=https://www.academia.edu/13258486|title=La Revue de Genève (1920–1925), les relations franco-allemandes et l'idée d'Europe unie|publisher=[[Éditions Slatkine]]|year=2009|isbn=978-2-05-102100-5|location=Geneva|pages=311|language=fr}}</ref>

In May 1930, the [[Swiss Schiller Foundation]] awarded Chenevière for his novel ''Les messagers inutiles'' («The useless messengers»).<ref>{{Cite journal|date=30 May 1930|title=Fondation Schiller suisse|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=LCE19300530-01.2.35&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN--------0-----|journal=Le Confédéré|language=fr|volume=63|pages=5|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> At the same time, he was nominated by the [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]] to serve as its representative on the board of that foundation,<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal|date=27 May 1930|title=Schweizerischer Schriftstellerverein|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=FZG19300527-01.2.8&srpos=56&e=-------de-20--41--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%c3%a8re%22-------0--de---|journal=Freiburger Nachrichten|language=de|volume=76|issue=122|pages=2|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> which he remained a member of for a quarter of a century.<ref name=":15">{{Cite journal|date=20 February 1957|title=Carnet des lettres et des arts. M. Jacques Chenevière quitte la fondation Schiller|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=LLE19570220-01.2.19&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN--------0-----|journal=La Liberté|language=fr|volume=87|issue=43|pages=4|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref>

In the years before the Second World War, Chenevière increased his activities at the ICRC. On the one hand side, he dealt with issues surrounding humanitarian assistance during the [[Spanish Civil War]] (1936–1939).<ref name=":6" /> On the other hand, he was a member of a commission that dealt with relief operations during the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]], a [[war of aggression]] and [[conquest]] which [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|fascist Italy]] waged against the [[Ethiopian Empire]] in [[East Africa]] between 1935 and 1937.<ref name=":0" /> When the ICRC in March 1936 received reports from its delegate [[Marcel Junod]], a medical doctor, about the [[Italian war crimes|Italian use]] of [[chemical weapon]]s in [[Korem]], ICRC-president [[Max Huber (statesman)|Max Huber]] travelled to [[Rome]] with Chenevière and [[Carl Jacob Burckhardt]], who was a professor of history at the [[Graduate Institute of International Studies]] in Geneva and a leading ICRC-member as well. According to Chenevière, Huber – a scholar of [[international law]] – mentioned the issue of poison gas warfare during a brief audience with [[dictator]] [[Benito Mussolini]]. During the internal debate which followed upon their return to Geneva, Chenevière joined the group of lawyers around Huber against the idealist faction led by [[Lucie Odier]], a former nurse. The legalists argued that the ICRC had no legal mandate to denounce the use of [[Weapon of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]]. They prevailed and eventually the ICRC only sent a cautious letter to the [[Italian Red Cross]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Baudendistel|first=Rainer|date=March 1998|title=Force versus law: The International Committee of the Red Cross and chemical warfare in the Italo-Ethiopian war 1935–1936|url=https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/force-versus-law-international-committee-red-cross-and-chemical-warfare-italo-ethiopian|format=PDF|journal=International Review of the Red Cross|volume=322|pages=94–97}}</ref>

=== World War II ===
[[File:ICRC-Av-Archives GenevaMeeting RedCrossSoicetes-NonBelligerentCountries 17-04-1940 V-P-HIST-03562-24.jpg|thumb|Chenevière standing in the back-row (4th from left), with Huber in the front-row (3rd from left), during a meeting with representatives of national Red Cross societes from non-belligerent countries in April 1940 (ICRC archives)]]
On 1 September 1939 – the very day of the [[invasion of Poland]] by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union – the ''Revue de Paris'' published an essay by Chenevière on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the [[first Geneva Convention]] in which he stressed that the ICRC and the whole Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was ready and prepared for humanitarian interventions with regard to the lingering conflicts.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chenevière|first=Jacques|date=1 September 1939|title=Genève et la Croix-Rouge – Un anniversaire 1864–1939|journal=Revue de Paris|language=fr}}</ref> Two weeks later, the ICRC opened the [[Central Agency for Prisoners of War]]. As the successor of the IPWA from WWI its mandate was based on the [[Fourth Geneva Convention|1929 Geneva Convention]]. The ICRC leadership appointed Chenevière as its director.<ref name=":0" />

{{Multiple image
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| caption1 = Agency staff at a Watson-machine
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| caption2 = The Agency in Geneva's Bâtiment électoral («Electoral building»), which hosted the assembly of the League of Nations before.Photos from the [[Nationaal Archief]] of the Netherlands
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When Nazi Germany started its [[Battle of France|Western Campaign]] on 10 May 1940 by invading the neutral states of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg, Chenevière reacted immediately by expanding the Central Agency. By the time of the German victory over France at the end of  June it had already almost one thousand volunteers. As in the First World War, most of them were women. In order to cope with the information which came in as an unprecedented flood due to the new dimensions of human suffering, Chenevière introduced a modern [[data processing system]] which used [[punched card]]s. The US-based technology company [[IBM]] provided six pieces of [[unit record equipment]]  for free. They were nicknamed [[Thomas J. Watson|Watson]]-machines and could tabulate, sort and cataolgue large numbers of index cards with unprecedented speed. It is, however a bitter irony of history that the Nazi regime on its part also used [[IBM and the Holocaust|IBM technology to systematically organise the genocidal persecution of minorities in Europe]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Crossland|first=James|title=Britain and the International Committee of the Red Cross, 1939–1945|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2014|isbn=978-1-137-39955-7|location=London}}</ref>

In November 1941, Chenevière travelled to [[Vichy]], where he discussed the situation of the French POWs in the [[German Reich|German ''Reich'']] with [[List of Marshals of France|Marshal]] [[Philippe Pétain]].<ref name=":16">{{Cite book|last=Chenevière|first=Jacques|title=Retours et images|publisher=Éditions Rencontre|year=1966|location=Lausanne|pages=185, 278}}</ref> At the same time, Chenevière received a first report about the so-called [[Final Solution]], the [[genocide]] of [[History of the Jews in Europe|European Jews]] by [[Nazi Germany]] and [[The Holocaust#Collaboration|its collaborators]]. The Swiss ambassador in [[Bucharest]], [[René de Weck]] (1887–1950), who as a ''romand'' poet and novelist was an old friend of Chenevière's, sent a private letter to him<ref>{{Citation|last=Weck|first=René de|title=Le Ministre de Suisse à Bucarest, R. de Weck, au Membre du Comité International de la Croix-Rouge, J. Chenevière|date=1941-11-29|url=https://dodis.ch/47314|publisher=Diplomatische Dokumente der Schweiz {{!}} Documents diplomatiques suisses {{!}} Documenti diplomatici svizzeri {{!}} Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland {{!}} Dodis|language=fr|access-date=2021-10-03}}</ref> with an alarming message:<blockquote>«Dear Chenevière, As I am sure you are aware, the [[History of the Jews in Romania|Jews of Romania]] have for some time, particularly since the country's declaration of war against the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], been the object of systematic [[Persecution of Jews|persecution]], compared to which [[Armenian genocide|the massacres in Armenia]] which aroused such indignation in Europe at the dawn of our century seem as harmless as children's games. [..] inhuman acts of violence, despoilments of every kind, deportations, executions and massacres which have taken place.»</blockquote>
De Weck strongly suggested that the ICRC send a delegate under the pretext of another mission to [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] where he could then gather relevant information. De Weck was certain that thanks to the reputation of the ICRC the Romanian government would not ignore the resulting recommendations: «Thousands of lives now under threat could thus be saved.» However, despite the urging, Chenevière only replied more than a month later that «we do not feel able to resolve the question which you put to me».<ref name=":6" />

In 1942, the [[University of Geneva]] awarded an [[Honorary degree|honorary doctorate]] in humanities to Chenevière.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-08-28|title=Listes des docteurs honoris causa - Archives - UNIGE|url=https://www.unige.ch/archives/adm/documents-en-ligne/listes-docteurs-honoris-causa/|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Archives – UNIGE. Université de Genève|language=fr}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In the same year, he took over the editorship of the book review page at the ''[[Journal de Genève]]'',<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roulin|first=Stéphanie|url=https://www.academia.edu/7279596|title=Gonzague de Reynold. Un intellectuel catholique et ses correspondants en quête d'une chrétienté idéale (1938-1945)|year=2002|location=Fribourg|pages=186|language=fr|format=PDF}}</ref> a [[Liberalism|liberal]] [[Newspaper|daily newspaper]], which had contributed to the founding of the ICRC by publishing a report by Dunant about the [[Battle of Solferino]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dunant|first=Henry|date=9 July 1859|title=Faits divers|url=https://www.letempsarchives.ch/page/JDG_1859_07_09/3/article/10043053|access-date=2021-10-03|website=www.letempsarchives.ch|publisher=Journal de Genève}}</ref> He kept that position for about a decade.

By the autumn of 1942 the ICRC had received more reports about the ongoing holocaust. In the plenary session on 14 October a clear majority of its members – led by Marguerite Frick-Cramer, Suzanne Ferrière and Lucie Odier – supported as the ultimate intervention a public denouncation of the genocide. However, the top-leaders around Burckhardt, who chaired the meeting since president Huber had fallen ill, and [[Philipp Etter]], who was not only a member but also the powerful [[President of the Confederation (Switzerland)|President of the Confederation]], rejected this proposal steadfastly. Chenevière sided with his friend Burckhardt,<ref name=":6" /> who was married to a daughter of Chenevière's [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]]-[[Authoritarianism|authoritarianist]] friend Gonzague de Reynold<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ruffieux|first=Roland|date=24 October 2019|title=Burckhardt, Carl Jacob|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/011624/2019-10-24/|access-date=2021-10-05|website=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS)|language=de}}</ref> (Etter was widely considered to be a disciple of Gonzague de Reynold).<ref>{{Cite web|last=NB|first=Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek|title=1948. Gonzague de Reynold: Die metaphysische Überhöhung|url=https://www.nb.admin.ch/snl/de/home/publikationen-forschung/thematische-dossiers/gotthard-hist/1948.html|access-date=2021-10-05|website=www.nb.admin.ch|language=de}}</ref> The legalists argued that an open protest against the Nazi-terror regime would jeopardise the charitable activities of the ICRC. Chenevière warned on several other occasions as well about the consequences of any extension of its protection efforts and insisted that the ICRC should stick to its traditional operations, especially taking care of POWs.<ref name=":6" />[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1990-009-27, Stalag II B, Hammerstein.jpg|thumb|Visit of an ICRC delegation led by Burckhardt to the POW camp  [[Stalag II-B|Stalag II B]] in [[Czarne|Hammerstein]] ([[Pomerania]]) in August 1941 (from the collections of the [[German Federal Archives]])]]In 1943, Chenevière published his novel ''Les captives'' («The captives»), which is generally considered as his masterpiece.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.mollat.com/livres/119930/jacques-cheneviere-les-captives|title=Les Captives - Jacques Chenevière - Librairie Mollat Bordeaux|language=fr}}</ref> While the plot does not refer directly to the catastrophes of the Second World War,<ref name=":8" /> the book reviews suggest that the moral struggles at the ICRC did have a major impact on it. As one put it:<blockquote>«Its theme is the unfathomable human heart, shackled by distrust and barricades of defense. From these dark chambers the doom of a whole house is caused. In inescapable consistency events get rolling which have been set in motion by men from within their own chests. Nothing turns out to be good, not even the possibility of a compromise appears anywhere on the horizon of this beset world. The law of great tragedy reigns here; entanglement and downfall of a character from the fatal conditions of his own nature.» <ref>{{Cite journal|date=20 September 1956|title=Unser neuer Roman|journal=Der Bund|language=de|volume=107|issue=440|pages=4|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref></blockquote>

In late 1944, the [[Norwegian Nobel Committee]] announced that it awarded the ICRC its second Nobel Peace Prize after 1917. As in World War I, it was the only recipient during the war years. The jury in Oslo credited the ICRC with its Central Agency, led by Chenevière, for <blockquote>«the great work it has performed during the war on behalf of [[human]]ity.»<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Nobel Peace Prize 1944|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1944/summary/|access-date=2021-10-07|website=NobelPrize.org|language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Post-WWII ===
[[File:A sick Polish survivor in the Hannover-Ahlem concentration camp receives medicine from a German Red Cross worker.jpg|thumb|A sick [[Polish people|Polish]] survivor in the [[Hannover-Ahlem concentration camp]] receives medicine from a [[German Red Cross]] worker (photo from the collections of the [[United States Armed Forces|US Armed Forces]])]]
In June 1946, Chenevière published a lengthy article in the ''Revue de Paris'' about the ICRC activities during WWII.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chenevière|first=Jacques|date=June 1946|title=L'action de la Croix-Rouge pendant la guerre|journal=Revue de Paris|volume=53|issue=6|pages=38–54}}</ref> Towards the end of the essay he also dealt with the question why the ICRC remained silent about the Shoa. However, he deliberately failed to mention the fact that his friend de Weck had suggested to him in 1941 a promising way to obtain independent information:<blockquote>«People have expressed surprise that the ICRC did not protest publicly while there was still time. But what could it have protested about? Its own powerlessness? But all the states that were signatories to the Conventions knew the reason and yet failed to make any protest themselves. Could it have protested against the brutal treatment the deportees claimed they were suffering from? But the ICRC had no way of confirming, even partially, such statements. Besides, experience proved that public protests by the ICRC not supported by observations of its own were fruitless, doing more harm than good. In the absence of hard proof they were taken by the accused country as evidence of ''a priori'' bias, and put in jeopardy the other activities which the Red Cross was duty bound under the Conventions to carry out.

Protest can be the last resort of the weak. Or they can be a quick way of salving our conscience and giving us the illusion of having done something. Even then, anyone indulging in them needs to be totally free of obligations that imply effective action. Some will always say 'the public must be told'. But that often amounts to a call for reprisals, and the Red Cross must never take the risk of stoking a fire that is ever ready to flare up. So it was in silence, though with all its strength, that the ICRC laboured on behalf of the deportees.

The afore-mentioned is the description of a tragic problem and not an act of self-justification.»<ref name=":6" /></blockquote>
[[File:EdouardChapusiat-JacquesCheneviere-MartinBodmer ICRC-AVarchives-V-P-MON-E-00002.jpg|thumb|Chenevière (2nd from left), undated photo from the late 1940s or early 1950s, with [[Édouard Chapuisat]] (left) and [[Martin Bodmer]] (right), ICRC Archives]]
In May 1947, Chenevière as well as his old friend Jaques-Dalcroze and the painter [[Alexandre Blanchet]] received the Prize of Geneva in the city's theatre. It was awarded for the first time that year<ref>{{Cite journal|date=17 April 1956|title=Le bel anniversaire de Jacques Chenevière|journal=Journal de Genève|language=fr}}</ref> and henceforth every three years to honour artists who had increased the reputation of Geneva.<ref>{{Cite news|date=6 May 1947|title=Die Preise der Stadt Genf|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=NZN19470506-02.2.10.10&srpos=35&e=-------de-20--21--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%c3%a8re%22-------0--de---|newspaper=[[Neue Zürcher Nachrichten]]|language=de|volume=105|pages=4|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref>

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| image1 = GeorgesKuehne-JacquesCheneviere-JeanPictet RTS ICRC AV-Archives V-P-RAD-E-00024.jpg
| caption1 = sitting, 2nd from right
| image2 = JacquesCheneviere-GeorgesKuhne 08051953 RTS-ICRC-AV-Archives-V-P-RAD-E-00007.jpg
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| header = [[World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day]] 1953 (ICRC Archives)
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Upon the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his ICRC membership, the ICRC assembly awarded Chenevière at the end of 1949 the [[gold medal]] of the organisation.<ref name=":9" /> He was only the second person after Huber who received that honour.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=November 1961|title=Mr. Carl J. Burckhardt receives the Gold Medal of the ICRC|url=https://international-review.icrc.org/sites/default/files/S0020860400013358a.pdf|journal=International Review of the Red Cross|volume=1|issue=8|pages=444–447|doi=10.1017/S0020860400013358|issn=0020-8604}}</ref> At the same time, Chenevière remained active at the top of the organisation as a member of the presidential council, as chairman of the commission for external affairs<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=crd-001%3A1953%3A0%3A%3A22&referrer=search#23|title=Bericht über die Tätigkeit des Internationalen Komitees vom Roten Kreuz (1. Januar – 31. Dezember 1953)|publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross|year=1954|location=Geneva|pages=3|language=de}}</ref> and from 1950 until 1952 once more as vice-president. He thus continued to participate both in daily politics and strategic decisions, especially with regard to the humanitarian crises in [[Algeria]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Perret|first1=Françoise|url=https://shop.icrc.org/download/ebook?sku=4011/002-ebook|title=From Budapest to Saigon. History of the International Committee of the Red Cross 1956–1965|last2=Bugnion|first2=François|publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross|year=2009|isbn=978-2-940396-70-2|location=Geneva|pages=150|format=PDF}}</ref> [[Greece]], [[Mainland Southeast Asia|Indochina]], [[Indonesia]], [[Korea]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] / [[Israel]], [[Syria]], and [[Tunisia]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rey-Schyrr|first=Catherine|url=https://shop.icrc.org/download/ebook?sku=0907/002-ebook|title=From Yalta to Dien Bien Phu. History of the International Committee of the Red Cross 1945 to 1955|publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross|year=2017|isbn=978-2-940396-49-8|location=Geneva|pages=30, 34, 323, 353, 471, 527, 532, 566, 639, 641, 657|format=PDF}}</ref>

In early 1955, Chenevière retired from the board of the Swiss Schiller Foundation,<ref name=":15" /> where he had represented the Federal Council since 1930.<ref name=":14" /> However, in June of the same year he still delivered the main speech at the [[Zürich Town Hall]] during the award ceremony for the Great Prize of the foundation which honoured Gonzague de Reynold,<ref>{{Cite journal|date=7 June 1955|title=Aus der Laudatio für Gonzague de Reynold|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=FZG19550607-01.2.12&srpos=1&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%c3%a8re%22+%22de+Reynold%22-------0-----|journal=Freiburger Nachrichten|language=de|volume=92|issue=129|pages=3|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> Chenevière's old friend<ref name=":16" /> who as an apologist of Switzerland's aristocratic past and sympathiser of authoritarian regimes was very controversial back then and has remained so ever since.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Buchbinder|first=Sascha|date=12 September 2014|title=Der nachhaltige Einfluss des Frédéric Gonzague de Reynold - Echo der Zeit - SRF|url=https://www.srf.ch/audio/echo-der-zeit/der-nachhaltige-einfluss-des-frederic-gonzague-de-reynold?partId=10414061|access-date=2021-10-10|website=Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF)|language=de}}</ref> Two years later, Chenevière received the award of the foundation for his own complete works.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=25 May 1959|title=Die Preise der Schweizerischen Schillerstiftung|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=DBB19590525-02.2.28.1&srpos=3&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%c3%a8re%22-------0--de---|journal=Der Bund|language=de|volume=110|issue=215|pages=4|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref>

In late 1959, upon the 40th anniversary of Chenevière's membership, the ICRC assembly appointed him honorary vice-president. The title was created especially for him.<ref name=":9" /> Four years later, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the ICRC its third Nobel Peace Prize after 1917 and 1944. It has remained since then the only organisation which received the award that often. Only Chenevière and Marguerite van Berchem were active top-officials at the ICRC during all three times (Marguerite Frick-Cramer was an honorary member when the Nobel Committee announced its decision in late 1963, a few days before her death).

In 1966, Chenevière published his memoirs, titled ''Retours et images'' («Recollections and images»), in which he however did not revisit the silence about the holocaust. At the end of the same year, the [[Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium]] awarded him its Grand Prize for French-language literature from outside of France.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=24 November 1966|title=Belgischer Literaturpreis für einen Schweizer|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=TTB19661124-01.2.31.24&srpos=14&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%C3%A8re%22-------0--de---|journal=Thuner Tagblatt|language=de|volume=90|issue=276|pages=9|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> In 1968, the ''Académie française'' once again honoured Chenevière, almost six decades after awarding him as one of the best newcomers in poetry, with the ''Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature françaises''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature françaises|url=https://www.academie-francaise.fr/prix-du-rayonnement-de-la-langue-et-de-la-litterature-francaises|access-date=2021-10-10|website=Académie française|language=fr}}</ref>

In November 1969, Chenevière retired for age reasons as ICRC member after half a century. In the history of the organisation only Ador served longer than him. At the same time, the ICRC assembly appointed its honorary vice-president also honorary member. ICRC president [[Marcel Naville]] praised Chenevière's constant commitment as well as his<blockquote>«unique discernment»<ref name=":9" /></blockquote>[[File:JacquesCheneviere1968 ICRC AV-Archives V-P-HIST-02864.jpg|thumb|in 1968, from the ICRC archives]]

Chenevière died on 22 April 1976, just a few days after his 90th birthday, in Bellevue GE,<ref name=":10" /> a municipality on Lake Geneva's right bank, close to the ICRC headquarters. The Chenevières had lived there in a lake-view mansion for decades since moving out of the Villa Hauterive in Cologny.<ref name=":11" /> Jacques Chenevière was buried in between the graves of his parents and his mother-in-law on the cemetery of Collonge-Bellerive, a municipality on Lake Geneva's left bank, where he had a second residency on the shores. The [[Obituary|obituaries]] in the Swiss newspapers focused on his literary legacy. The daily ''[[Berner Zeitung|Thuner Tagblatt]]'' noted: <blockquote>«The vividness with which he portrayed human characters was accompanied by the subtility of his linguistic skills. The knowledge about the severity and the doubtfulness of being went along with a relaxing cheerfulness. It is just fair to call him one of the most important representatives of the Western Swiss and  – moreover – the protestant French-language literature of our contemporary times.»<ref>{{Cite journal|last=P.|first=M.|date=29 April 1976|title=Der Romancier Jacques Chenevière gestorben|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=TTB19760429-01.2.20&srpos=15&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN-%22Jacques+Chenevi%c3%a8re%22-------0--de---|journal=Thuner Tagblatt|volume=100|issue=99|pages=2|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref> </blockquote>The ICRC published in its journal ''[[International review of the Red Cross|Revue internationale de la Croix-Rouge]]'' an [[encomium]] that borrowed heavily from the [[apologia]] which Chenevière published in 1946, arguing that the ICRC could only work silently behind the scenes and try to convince the actors so that it would not jeoparidise its position as a neutral mediator.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal|date=May 1976|title=Décès de M. Jacques Chenevière, vice-président d'honneur du CICR|url=https://international-review.icrc.org/sites/default/files/S0035336100087219a.pdf|journal=Revue internationale de la Croix-Rouge|language=fr|pages=286–287}}</ref> Since the public apology of its president Cornelio Sommaruga (* 1932) in 1995, the ICRC had acknowledged that its silence about the holocaust was «the greatest failure» in its history.<ref name=":12" /> However, two decades earlier the then leadership still defended the diplomatic reserve, for which Chenevière carried major responsibility, and honoured him as a man<blockquote>«who gave to the Red Cross the best from his energy, his intelligence and his heart»<ref name=":13" /></blockquote>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Graves Marguerite-Jacques-Adolphe-Blanche-Cheneviere-CimetiereDeCollongeBellerive RomanDeckert18062021.jpg|thumb|Chenevière's tomb (centre), in 2021]]
In early 1987, the ''[[Bibliothèque de Genève|Bibliothèque publique et universitaire de Genève]]'' organised an exhibition about Chenevière's life and works to celebrate the centenary of his birthday.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=D.|first=J.-F.|date=11 February 1987|title=Jacques Chenevière|url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=MIG19870211-01.2.1&e=-------de-20--1--img-txIN--------0-----|journal=Construire|language=fr|volume=7|pages=28|via=[[e-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref>

In 1991, Chenevière's widow Marguerite died at the age of 92 years.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rossellat|first=Lionel|title=Généalogie de Marguerite Oehl|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/rossellat?lang=fr&n=oehl&oc=0&p=marguerite|access-date=2021-09-27|website=Geneanet|language=fr}}</ref>

In 1992, Chenevière's masterpiece Les captives was reissued. In the same year, the ''Fondation Jacques et Marguerite Chenevière'' was established in Geneva. Its stated purpose was to spend the income from its capital partly or completely on supporting recognised institutions which assist elderly people, especially women, in need.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fondation Jacques et Marguerite Chenevière|url=https://ge.ch/hrcintapp/externalCompanyReport.action?companyOfrcId13=CH-660-0767992-2&ofrcLanguage=1|access-date=2021-09-27|website=Registre du Commerce du Canton de Genève. République et Canton de Genève}}</ref>

The graves of Chenevière and his wife Marguerite, who did not have children, of Marguerite's mother Marie (1864–1957) as well as those of his parents Adolphe and Blanche at the cemetery of Collonge-Bellerive are scheduled to be levelled in 2022.

== List of works ==
[[File:EmileJaquesDalcroze-LaFeteDeLaJeunesseEtDeLaJoie Geneve1923.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''La fête de la jeunesse et de la joie'', illustrated by [[Édouard Elzingre]] (1880–1966)]]

=== Autobiography ===
* ''Retours et images'', [[Éditions Rencontre]], [[Lausanne]] 1966
[[File:Frontispiece I-Ile-Deserte JacquesCheneviere 1917.jpg|thumb|[[Book frontispiece|Frontispiece]] of ''L’île déserte'', illustrated by [[André Hofer]] (1890-1973)]]

=== Biographies and essays ===
'''In French'''

* ''[[Countess of Ségur|La comtesse de Ségur, née Rostopchine]]'', [[Éditions Gallimard|Gallimard]], Paris 1933
* ''Campagne Genevoise'', [[Éditions du Griffon]], Neuchâtel 1950
* ''Eloge de Gonzague de Reynold : lauréat du grand prix de la Fondation Schiller suisse'', Zurich 1955
'''In German'''

* Laudatio für Gonzague de Reynold, gesprochen bei der Übergabe des grossen Preises der Schweizerischen Schillerstiftung im Rathaus Zürich am 5. VI. 1955, Zürich 1955
* ''Genfer Landschaft'', Éditions du Griffon, Neuchâtel 1961

'''In English'''

* ''Countryside Around Geneva'', Éditions du Griffon, Neuchâtel 1963
[[File:JacquesCheneviere Innocences 1924.jpg|thumb|Illustration by [[Maximilien Vox]] (1894-1974)]]

=== Books of poems ===
* ''Les beaux jours'', [[Éditions Alphonse Lemerre]], Paris 1909
* ''La chambre et le jardin'', Éditions Alphonse Lemerre, Paris 1913

=== Libretti ===
* ''La forêt bleue'', [[A. Durand]], Paris 1911
* ''Les premiers souvenirs'', Impr. de la [[Tribune de Genève]], Geneva 1918
* ''La fête de la jeunesse et de la joie'', [[Foetisch Frères]], Lausanne 1922

=== Novels and novellas ===
'''In French'''
* ''L’île déserte'', [[Éditions Larousse]], Paris 1917
* ''Jouvence; ou, La chimère'', [[Éditions Grasset & Fasquelle|Éditions Grasset]], Paris 1922
* ''Innocences'', Éditions Grasset, Paris 1924
* ''Les messagers inutiles'', Éditions Grasset, Paris 1926
* ''Daphné'', [[Éditions du Sagittaire]], Paris 1927
* ''La jeune fille de neige'', [[Calmann-Lévy]], Paris 1929
* ''Les aveux complets'', Calmann-Lévy, Paris 1931
* ''Connais ton cœur'', Calmann-Lévy, Paris 1935
* ''Valet, dames, roi'', Calmann-Lévy, Paris 1938
* ''Les captives'', [[Éditions du Milieu du Monde et la Guilde du Livre]], Geneva 1943
* ''Le bouquet de la mariée'', [[R. Julliard]], Paris 1955
* ''Daphné ou, L’école des sentiments'', Éditions Rencontre, Lausanne 1969
'''In German'''

* ''Die einsame Insel'', [[Droemer Knaur|Verlag Theodor Knaur]], Berlin 1927
* ''Bube, Damen, König: Lehrjahre der Liebe'', [[Ernst Wasmuth Verlag|Fretz & Wasmuth]], Zürich 1939
* ''Erkenne Dein Herz'', [[Christian Wegner Verlag]], Hamburg 1939 und 1948
* ''Herbe Frucht'', Christian Wegner Verlag, Hamburg 1949

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikisource|Auteur:Jacques Chenevière|lang=fr}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://swisscollections.ch/Record/9972432861905504 Correspondence] between Carl Jacob Burckhardt and Chenevière, 17 letters written between 1927 and 1974, from Burckhardt's bequest at the library of the [[University of Basel]]
*[https://avarchives.icrc.org/Film/5466 ICRC film from 1941] with audiovisual recordings of Chenevière between 10:25 and 11:35
*[https://data.bnf.fr/en/12129845/jacques_cheneviere/ Information about Jacques Chenevière] in the data bank of the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]]
*[https://dodis.ch/P3958/ Jacques Chenevière] in the Dodis data bank of the [[Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland]]
*{{DNB-Portal|123979870}}
*[https://kalliope-verbund.info/de/eac?eac.id=123979870 List of manuscripts by Chenevière] in the [[Kalliope Union Catalog]] with letters to [[Georges Borgeaud]], [[Max Rychner]] and others
*''[https://archives.bge-geneve.ch/archive/fonds/cheneviere_famille Papiers Chenevière]'' – 6,5 m of records from the family archives ranging from 1631 until 1989 – in the archives of the ''Bibliothèque de Genève''
*{{Helveticat}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Portal bar|Switzerland|Biography}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chenevière, Jacques}}
[[Category:1886 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Swiss writers]]
[[Category:Red Cross personnel]]
[[Category:Writers from Geneva]]