Mission and heritage

The Brocher Foundation

The Foundation's mission

The Brocher Foundation is dedicated to studying the impact of medical development on society, and to promoting ethical, legal and social reflection on medical progress and healthcare policies. By welcoming researchers and experts from all over the world, it provides a multidisciplinary forum for debate on the major contemporary issues in bioethics.

Today, the Foundation is internationally recognized as one of the best discussion forums for all issues relating to bioethics.

Its roots in the Lake Geneva region, renowned for its scientific excellence in the life and health sciences, and the presence on its Board of the Rectors and Presidents of the Universities of Geneva and Lausanne, and the EPFL, guarantee a high academic standard.

Located at the heart of international Geneva, the Foundation fosters exchanges between the academic world, international organizations, NGOs and public decision-makers, helping to strengthen the dialogue between science and society.

André Comte-Sponville

The Brocher Foundation is a wonderful place, on the shores of Lake Geneva, and a very useful institution, in the heart of Europe: here, more than anywhere else, we understand the extent to which health is also a political issue.

Martin Winckler

The ethics of care is an ongoing process of elaboration, nourished by the experience of everyone, in reality as in fiction. The Brocher Foundation offers researchers in ethics a place for reflection and sharing. I am delighted and honored that it has decided to open this space to literature.

History

Since the XIXᵉ century, Geneva has been at the heart of the thinking of visionary minds committed to respect for health and ethics.

In the second half of the XIXᵉ century, outraged by the condition of the wounded on the battlefield, Henri Dunant, Guillaume-Henri Dufour and Jakob Dubs, along with other Geneva citizens, joined forces to improve the lot of war victims. At the time, wounded soldiers were often left to die in excruciating agony.

Deeply affected by the battlefield of Solferino, Henri Dunant devoted all his energy to this cause and convinced his friends in Geneva to set up a humanitarian aid association. It was from this impetus that a lasting tradition of solidarity and humanitarian commitment was born in Geneva.

Jakob Dubs, Mrs. Brocher's grandfather, was a jurist and politician from Zurich, who was a member of the Federal Council from 1861 to 1872, and served as its president three times (1864, 1868, 1870). Committed to the efforts of Dunant and Dufour, he played an active role in the founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863 and the Swiss Red Cross in 1866, which he chaired.

He played a decisive role in organizing the Conference of August 22, 1864, which gave birth to the First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies. A large part of his life was thus devoted to political commitment to the rights of the wounded in wartime.

Jakob Dubs

Lucette Brocher

In creating the Brocher Foundation, Jakob Dubs' granddaughter, Madame Lucette Brocher wished to perpetuate her grandfather's humanist commitment. Together with her husband, Dr. Jacques Brocher, she decided to bequeath their estate and assets in order to extend this legacy into the XXᵉ century, in the field of health and medical ethics.

A dynamic woman and an excellent administrator, Madame Brocher surrounded herself with the best advisors to manage their estate and guarantee the long-term future of their project. Residents of Geneva, the couple bequeathed a magnificent estate and capital assets that today welcome researchers from all over the world.

In the 21stᵉ century, the Brocher Foundation is part of a modern vision of this mission. Its scientific field, specified by the Foundation Board, aims to respond to new challenges linked to healthcare, patients' rights and bioethics in a globalized world.

In the image of Jakob Dubs, who knew how to rally politicians and citizens to the humanitarian cause, and the Brocher couple, who opened their field to the scientific world, the Foundation today embodies this tradition of commitment and openness. It has become a dynamic forum for exchanges on the healthcare challenges of the XXIᵉ century, a bridge between the scientific world, international Geneva and citizens, true to the spirit of its founders.