They came to Geneva

They are monarchs, presidents, ministers, diplomats, and delegates that come to Geneva to stand for their positions, change the course of history and build a better future. Discover some of the personalities who have placed Geneva under the scoop since 1926.

2023

French president Emmanuel Macron (left) meets CERN's Director General Fabiola Gianotti and Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Confederation, at the Science Gateway on 16 November 2023. 

2021

Russian president Vladimir Putin (left) shakes hands with US president Joe Biden (right) next to Swiss Federal president Guy Parmelin (back), during the US - Russia summit, on 16 June 2021.

 

2021

Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar (2nd left), Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (2nd right), British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (left), Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias (right), and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades (not seen) attend a reception hosted by Secretary-General of United Nations Antonio Gutierrez (center) on 27 April 2021.

 

2020

Visit of the President of the Republic of Latvia Egils Levits at CERN on 20 January 2020.

 

2019

Prime Minister Republic of Slovenia Marjan Šarec meets CERN Director-General Dr. Fabiola Gianotti, on 6 November 2019.

 

2019

Visit of the President of the Marshall Islands Hilda Heine to the 108th Session of the International Labour Conference, on 20 June 2019.

 

2019

French President Emmanuel Macron with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during the 108th (Centenary) Session of the International Labour Conference, on 11 June 2019.

 

2019

Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel with Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic, during the 108th (Centenary) Session of the International Labour Conference, on 11 June 2019.

 

2018

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif (left) greets Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Sirodjiddin Muhriddin (centre) and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov, during the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, on 28 November 2018.

 

2018

Visit of the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins to the 107th Session of the International Labour Conference, on 7 June 2018.

 

2017

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with the President of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly Peter Thomson, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on 18 January 2017.

 

2015

US Secretary of State John Kerry (left) talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on 30 May 2015.

 

2014

Tunisia's President Moncef Marzouki (right) and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) at the UN Human Rights Council session, on 3 March 2014.

 

2011

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the start of a bilateral meeting, on 28 February 2011.

 

2006

King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway at CERN, on 4 April 2006.

 

2004

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales with ICRC President Jakob Kallenberger on 26 March 2004.

 

2004

Meeting between Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva (left), Chilian President Ricardo Lagos Escobar (2nd left), French President Jacques Chirac (3rd rightR), French Agriculture Minister Herve Gaymard (2nd right), and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on 30 January 2004.

 

1998

President of the United States Bill Clinton with WTO Director-General Renato Ruggiero during the ministerial conference, on 18 May 1998.

 

1998

President Fidel Castro of Cuba at WTO ministerial conference on 18 May 1998, which commemorates 50 years of the multilateral trading system.

 

1990

Speech by Deputy President of the African National Congress Nelson Mandela on the occasion of the 77th International Labour Conference, on 8 June 1990.

 

1989

Inauguration of CERN's Large Electron-Positron (LEP) collider in November 1989. From the left, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, King Carl Gustav of Sweden, CERN Council President Josef Rembser, President François Mitterrand of France, President Jean-Pascal Delamuraz of Switzerland, Carlo Rubbia, Director-General of CERN.

 

1988

Press correspondents listening to the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Yasser Arafat, at the 43rd session of the UN General Assembly, which took place in Geneva on 13 December 1988.

 

1985

Summit between the President of the United States Ronald Reagan and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, in November 1985.

 

1982

Prime Minister of United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher addresses at the Carlton during her visit to the ICRC, on 12 August 1982.

 

1981

Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi with ICRC President Alexandre Hay, on 6 May 1981.

 

1980

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and H. R. H. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the ICRC, at the Carlton, on 30 April 1980.

 

1971

Meeting between the Emperor Hirohito and Empress Kojun of Japan (center) and ICRC President Marcel A. Naville (left) on 10 October 1971.

 

1969

Pope Paul VI at the 50th International Labour Conference in 1969.

 

1955

At the Palais des Nations in July 1955, during the "Big Four" conference. From left to right: Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers Nikolai Bulganin, President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower, President of the French Council of Ministers Edgard Faure; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Anthony Eden.

 

1946

Meeting of Winston Churchill and Max Huber, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on 16 September 1946.

 

1936

His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, addresses at a special session of the League of Nations in June 1936.

 

1926

Speech by German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann at the League of Nations Assembly on 14 September 1926.