Switzerland Cemetery of Kings

8 images 1 contributors

Mathew Browne

About this spot
Cimetière des Rois (Cemetery of Kings), which officially is called Cimetière de Plainpalais, is a cemetery where notable residents of Geneva are buried.

There are limited plots and the city's regulations dictate that only "magistrates and distinguished personalities, having contributed by their life and activity to the influence of Geneva" may be buried here.

Among those resting here are John Calvin (the Protestant reformer), Jorge Luis Borges (Argentine author), Sérgio Vieira de Mello (former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), Ernest Ansermet (Swiss conductor), Frank Martin (composer), Sir Humphry Davy (chemist), Gustave Moynier (President of the Red Cross).

The cemetery became notorious when Chilean author Eduardo Labarca urinated on the grave of his bitter rival, Jorge Luis Borges. An image of the act appeared as the cover for his book The Enigma of the Modules, which he defended as "an artistic act".

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