Meeting Place of the World

• Share

(4 of 4)

Perhaps inevitably, the foreigners who flock to enjoy the benefits of Geneva tend to denigrate their hosts as cold and avaricious. Voltaire called Geneva "a city where no one ever smiles." One of his contemporaries, the Duke de Choiseul, jeered at the Swiss penchant for making money, "If you see a Genevean jumping out the window, jump right after him: there is 15% to be gained." As a defense against their isolation, Geneva's 4,000 resident Americans have an American Club, an American women's club, eight English- speaking churches, a drama society and a bridge club.

The Genevans respond to accusations of haughtiness with a certain haughtiness. Many have never even visited the Palais des Nations on the northeastern edge of the city. The aristocratic families that have lived for centuries in the narrow streets around St. Peter's rarely open their heavy doors to any foreigners, diplomatic or otherwise. "People call us cold and unfriendly," admits Robert Vieux, the city's chief of protocol, "but that's because we respect everybody's privacy." And the Swiss do take very seriously the crime known as filouterie d'auberge (nonpayment of hotel bills), which is punishable by three months in jail and a fine.

It is one of Geneva's peculiarities that the mayor of this capitalist citadel is a Communist. He is Roger Dafflon, 70, who is also the chief of the city police. A onetime electrician, born and raised in a working-class section known as the Grotto, Dafflon is one of only ten Communists in the 100-member cantonal parliament, but he is one of the five city councilors who take turns serving as mayor for a year. Says a tolerant Geneva banker: "A Communist mayor is a luxury we can afford."

And anyway, the long winter is ending. Soon the lilacs will be in bloom, and the tulips will flower in the Jardin Anglais, and this week the local authorities are once again turning on Europe's tallest geyser, which sends a shimmering column of water 400 up from the lake into the spring sky. Dominus providebit.

FOOTNOTE: *A.k.a. WIPO, it deals chiefly with trademark and copyright problems. The other initials stand for the International Labor Organization, the World Health Organization, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.