Laureates 1990
Francis et Marie-Claire Blanchard

1990 Prize awarded to Francis Blanchard, Director General of the International Labour Organization and Marie-Claire Blanchard, President of the International Solidarity Committee of Geneva

Monday 5 March 1990, Hôtel des Bergues

The Board of the Foundation for Geneva awarded the Foundation’s Prize to Mrs. Marie-Claire Blanchard and Mr. Francis Blanchard, the 1990 laureates, for their respective action and commitment to international Geneva, during a ceremony on Monday, March 5, 1990 at the Hôtel des Bergues.

Preceded by a vin d’honneur offered by the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva and the Administrative Council of the City of Geneva, a dinner was organized jointly by the Cercle des Amitiés internationales and the Fondation pour Genève.

During his speech, Mr. Marcel Naville announced that the same morning, the Council of State had conferred the Bourgeoisie d’honneur on Marie-Claire and Francis Blanchard, as a token of gratitude and esteem for the activity that both of them have carried out in Switzerland. He recalled that Mrs. Marie-Claire Blanchard, founded in 1965 and then presided over the International Committee of Solidarity for Geneva Works, a pillar of philanthropic action in Geneva. He then evoked the decisive role played by her husband, Francis Blanchard, within the executive body of the International Labour Organization, the ILO. He joined the ILO in 1951 and became Director General in 1974, a position to which he was re-elected until 1989.