Philippe Mottu during his last visit in Caux in 2008, with Mohamed Sahnoun, President of Initiatives of Change International at that time (Photo: Daniele de Lutzel)

It is with sadness that the Fondation Caux-Initiatives et Changement announces the death of Philippe Mottu of Geneva. He died on Monday, August 23, 2010 at the Gracieuse residence in Lonay.

With his friends Robert Hahnloser and Erich Peyer, Philippe Mottu was a founder of the Conference Centre for Moral Re-Armament (now Initiatives of Change) which opened at Caux in 1946. He will be remembered as one in a long line of Genevese who have taken initiatives extending far beyond Switzerland.

Philippe Mottu studied theology and political science at the universities of Geneva and Lausanne and was to be deeply affected by the Second World War. In 1943 he had a clear thought that “if Switzerland escapes the ravages of war, its mission will be to create a centre where French and Germans can be reconciled and build the peace. Caux is the place.”

de gauche à droite Erich Payer, Philippe Mottu, Charles Ducommun, W. Imhof (correspondent de la NZZ à Washington) et Robert Hahnloser, Mackinac, 1945

With the financial support of some hundred Swiss families, Mottu, Hahnloser and Peyer bought the former Caux Palace. During the first years (1946-1949) several thousand French and Germans took part in conferences, establishing one of the foundations of Franco-German reconciliation. Among these were German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and French Foreign Minister Robert Schumann.
At first the close links between the founders of Caux and Frank Buchman, an American pastor and initiator of Moral Re-Armament, were not always understood in Switzerland, but over the years trust was established.

The Spirit of Caux is a concept known throughout the world and something which Philippe Mottu in his lifetime travelled widely to propagate.

Philippe Mottu is also the author of several books, including: L’Occident au défi; Révolution politique et révolution de l’homme; Caux, de la Belle époque au Réarmement moral and Regards sur le siècle.

Philippe Mottu is survived by four children, nine grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.