Oxford and Cambridge Dining Club of Geneva

History

Karel Norsky, a member of the WWII Czech contingent of the British army, as part of his Queen's College, Oxford, postgraduate research in international relations, found himself in Geneva at the beginning of 1949. There the thought occurred to him that to form a dining Club in Geneva, made up of past members of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, would provide an opportunity “of combining interesting conversation with good food”. Seeking and gaining the support of other members resident in Geneva to this idea, he set about forming a Club and named it “The Oxford and Cambridge Dining Club - Geneva”. There were six founder members: Karel Norsky himself, Pat Boyd – later to become his wife – Diana Nixon, Franz de Clavé, Wilfred Jenks – later to become Director-General of the ILO, Geneva – and Anthony Rhodes.

The first dinner was held early in 1949 at the Café des Savoyards, in the Grand' Rue, Geneva, with twelve members attending. Being considered a great success, a second dinner followed shortly thereafter at the Perle du Lac Restaurant. This attracted twenty members. Thus from the outset the Club was a success. The continuing excellence of Norsky's idea has since been confirmed by the more than four hundred dinners held after the inaugural one.

Being an informal gathering of friends, the Club has neither constitution nor written rules. Practices for organizing the Club have developed over the years and these have been continued or discontinued according to the needs of the time. One practice which has been maintained is that of “signing in” in a “Livre D'Or” at each dinner. The Club is now on Book VIII. Another unwritten rule was that there should be no speeches; it is a rule, however, that has been frequently broken including on one occasion a talk by Clement Attlee. In recent years the Club has welcomed many after-dinner speakers. Since its formation, it is estimated that the Club has had well over one thousand members.

An early member of the Club, and eventually to prove one of it most significant, was Robert-Edmond Hentsch, who was then a partner, and later became the senior partner, of the private Geneva bank of Messrs Hentsch and Cie. An anglophile and considerable benefactor of his old college, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, he developed a tremendous affection for the Club and remained a member for over thirty-four years. He was President of the Club at least twice, almost certainly being its second President, following on immediately after Wilfred Jenks, and eventually he became the Patron of the Club. A. W. Hawthorne, President at the time of his death, summarized the achievements of Mr Hentsch as follows: “A regular participant at our meetings, he provided a focal point and a continuity to the Club's activities. In this way, as in many others, Mr Hentsch showed his attachment to the ancient universities and to fostering a sense of comradeship among their graduates in Switzerland.” His work continues today.

Most of the more than four hundred dinners that have been held have followed the concept proposed by Karel Norsky. This was re-defined in the 1970's as the opportunity for “like-minded persons with an Oxford and Cambridge background to meet for dinners of a decent gastronomical standing and enjoy conversation and social contact”, but some have included other diversions: watching, well after midnight, the runway of Geneva airport being torn up and re-laid; going backstage at the Geneva Grand Théâtre; a Guy Fawkes night bonfire on a Swiss mountain; viewing the first folios of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Troilus and Cressida; and entertaining and being entertained by the choir of Girton College, Cambridge, at a member's house outside Geneva.

The Club celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1999, and to mark this occasion a dinner was held in the grand surroundings of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Guests included the British Ambassador to Switzerland; the Senior Tutor of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; the Alumni Officer of Oxford University; Karel Norsky and Mrs Pat Norsky, founder members; and Madame Antoinette Hentsch, in recognition of the great contribution made to the Club by her husband Robert-Edmond Hentsch, with her daughter Béatrice Mermod and her nephew Bénédict Hentsch, Managing Director of Darier Hentsch. Six past Presidents also attended, heading up the various tables. With 135 participants, this was the Club's largest-ever gathering.

The Club looks forward with optimism to its next fifty years.

C.L. Dawson,
President in 2000 and Secretary of the Club from 1992 to 1996,
Author of “A Brief History of the Oxford and Cambridge Dining Club of Geneva, 1949-1999”

June, 2005.