Monies raised were donated to a first aid and CPR training complex in Loumbila, Burkina Faso, a joint project with the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, the Monaco Red Cross and the Burkinabe Red Cross.
Sitting on a hot water bottle, and with my face feeling the effect of a day’s exposure to the Mediterranean sun and cycling into light winds, I can’t help but relive the 140 kilometres travelled by a group of 90 that left St-Tropez at 8 am this morning.
If the event’s success could be measured solely by the quality of McLaren Property Services’ organisation and the kit supplied to riders – the Gel Intech Santini shorts – than I’d say it was outstanding, but there was so much more to the day than a pair of exceptionally comfortable riding shorts and an impressive list of sponsors that adorn every inch of the very cool jerseys.
COCC’s annual ride provides ample opportunity for cycling enthusiasts in and around Monaco to get to know each other over a good cause, from the “COCCtail” hosted by sponsor John Taylor Luxury Real Estate at the Café de Paris in St-Tropez on Saturday evening to the halfway-point cycle brunch at the penthouse apartment of a John Caudwell development, which included three masseuses on hand for SOS muscle repair, to the oysters reception at COCC sponsor Stars’n’Bars upon arrival in Monaco around 4:30 pm.
The festivities continued into the night with a street party at Slammers on rue Suffren Reymond (see photos below).
Yes, there’s a core group that do the cycle every year, like Maurizio Gazzola from John Taylor Luxury Real Estate, Gareth Whitstock, who represents his sister’s Foundation, and Didier Rubiolo from Stars’n’Bars.
But add to the mix the delightful Sarah Kavanagh, married to Riviera Radio’s Managing Director, Paul, who returned for her second year. Or newcomers, like Adam Sirkorksi, who works between Warsaw and Monaco, and Jodi Mainwaring, a sports massage therapist from California.
Veteran, new, young, old, fast and not so, we all rode as one, offering words of encouragement when necessary and heartfelt congratulations at the finish. The bond of sport and community cannot be underrated especially with this lot where no one takes themselves too seriously against the backdrop of the mind-blowing red-rock Esterel.
Cycling along the Croisette in Cannes this afternoon, I recall a French cycling club of around 20 pulled up and randomly one of the riders said he did the COCC St-Tropez-Monaco ride last year and it was one of his best cycling memories. Mine, too, fellow rider, mine, too.
Anyone interested in sponsorship can contact COCC. Article first published April 30, 2017.
Cyclists regroup in Cap d’Ail to complete final kilometre together
Oyster reception at Stars’n’Bars
Street party at Slammers
Sir Stelios joins Giving Pledge, dedicates majority of wealth to philanthropy
On Tuesday, May 30, officially at 2 pm CET, one of Monaco’s most respected and active members of the community, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, joined the Giving Pledge, the “global, multi-generational initiative” that encourages the most affluent individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.
Sir Stelios is the first Monaco resident to make this commitment.
The official announcement was made from Seattle, Washington, welcoming 14 new philanthropic individuals and couples, bringing the growing list of total signatories to 168, and from 21 countries.
Created in 2010 by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, the Giving Pledge is a worldwide effort to help address society’s most pressing problems, and although it’s specifically focused on wealthy individuals, “it’s inspired by the example set by millions of people at all income levels who give generously – and often at great personal sacrifice – to make the world better”.
“Philanthropy is different around the world, but almost every culture has a long-standing tradition of giving back,” said Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Bill and Warren and I are excited to welcome the new, very international group of philanthropists joining the Giving Pledge, and we look forward to learning from their diverse experiences.”
Sir Stelios continues to repay debt to society In the opening of his Giving Pledge letter, Sir Stelios – who considers himself “doubly fortunate for having twice had the option not to work for a living” – wrote, “I’m not sure I am a worthy member of this group of extraordinary individuals.”
The creator of easyJet, the successful London-based and now pan-European low-cost airline in 1995, who still works 60 hours a week at the age of 50, explained, “When I turned 40, I seriously started the process of repaying my debt to society. I think all wealthy people have a debt to repay because it is thanks to their customers who bought their goods and/or services that they acquired their fortune.
“It took me another 10 years of both ‘thinking’ and ‘doing’ philanthropy to conclude that by giving more than half of one’s fortune to charity, one can balance the needs of family and friends against other good causes.”
Sir Stelios spends a portion of his annual income each year on a series of “well diversified causes” through the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation. The Foundation offers support in the countries where Sir Stelios has lived and worked – the UK, Greece, Cyprus and Monaco – in four ways. First, funding scholarships for young people to study at the academic institutions where Stelios himself was educated: London School of Economics and City University in London and the Doukas High School in Athens, Greece.
Second, supporting entrepreneurship with cash prizes to stimulate economic growth and job creation. In the UK awards are given, in conjunction with the UK-based charity Leonard Cheshire, to entrepreneurs with a disability. In Cyprus, cash prizes are awarded to teams that include both a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot as a way of promoting bi-communal cooperation and to help establish lasting peace on the island. In Greece, awards are given to young entrepreneurs.
Third, the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation donates money to charities in the areas of focus, such as supporting environmental projects with the World Wildlife Fund and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, as well as other worthy local charities.
Fourth, distributing 25,000 snacks per day through the “Food from the Heart” programme in Greece and Cyprus that offers, each working day, without discrimination, snacks to people in need.
Sir Stelios commented, “My belief is that nobody has a monopoly on good charitable ideas, and the problems in our world will never all go away. So we have to keep helping, within our means, forever.”
The long-time Monaco resident, who recently founded the Gustavia Yacht Club, shared that he was “inspired by Bill Gates when he called me personally before giving this pledge” and hopes that publicising his Giving Pledge decision might “inspire others, perhaps those closer to my part of the world, to make the same pledge”.
Global Pledges newest signatories The Giving Pledge signatories, who range in age from 31 to 93, come together throughout the year to discuss challenges, successes and failures, as well as how to be smarter about giving. This year, at a recent two-day conference, the group discussed topics such as criminal justice reform, early childhood education, refugee aid, public health, and poverty alleviation.
The Giving Pledge does not involve direct appeals, pooling money, or requirements to support a particular cause or organisation. Over the long-term, the initiative hopes to help shift the social norms of philanthropy toward giving more, giving sooner and giving smarter.
Today’s fourteen new signatories, whose backgrounds and sectors include, agriculture, finance, gaming and entertainment, travel and leisure, and technology, are: Leonard H. Ainsworth (Australia); Mohammed Dewji (Tanzania); Dagmar Dolby (US); Dong Fangjun (People’s Republic of China); Anne Grete Eidsvig and Kjell Inge Røkke (Norway), Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (Monaco, Cyprus), Nick and Leslie Hanauer (US); Iza and Samo Login (Slovenia); Dean and Marianne Metropoulos (US); Terry and Susan Ragon (US); Nat Simons and Laura Baxter-Simons (US); Robert Frederick Smith (US); Harry H. Stine (US); and You Zhonghui (People’s Republic of China).
Shale Wagman appeared on ‘Canada’s Got Talent’ and has been called the country’s Billy Elliot. We meet up with the 16-year-old at Monaco’s Princess Grace Academy, as part of our Q&A series celebrating Canada’s 150th this year
ML: You are from Thornhill, Ontario, north of Toronto. Can you tell us a little about life in your Canadian hometown? SW: I spent most of my time training and performing but I still got to enjoy so much. I use to go take long walks with my dogs in the beautiful Canadian forests. I always enjoyed bike riding with my brothers all over the city. In the winters my mom would take me, my brothers and our friends tobogganing down the snowy hills near our house. On the way to the dance studio I would usually stop for a Boston Cream donut at the iconic Tim Hortons.
There were many good times at our family and friends cottages in Lake Simcoe and Haliburton, Ontario. We would go waterskiing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming and have S’mores by the bonfire. I also got to enjoy sleepover camp in Haliburton. I went for five summers to Camp Timberlane, made some amazing friends, enjoyed the outdoors, water sports, performing in plays, drawing, painting and was able to explore different aspects of life.
ML: What does it feel like to be called Canada’s Billy Elliot? SW: I am grateful. I take it as a big compliment to be recognised for my efforts in pursuing, living and having the opportunity to share my passion with the world. I hope that I can inspire people of any age to go for what they truly want in life. I want young boys to have the courage to go for whatever makes them feel alive without fearing that they will be judged by their dreams and aspirations.
ML: When you were 11, you were on Canada’s Got Talent in 2012. What do you remember the most about that experience? SW: The love! I genuinely felt that Canada was rooting for me. It was a great platform to bring dance to the forefront for young people to watch. I got so much support nationally. I never felt more proud to be a Canadian.
ML: How have you developed as a dancer since appearing on the show? SW: A year after Canada’s Got Talent, I had gone in a completely different direction for my future as a dancer. I decided that I wanted to immerse myself fully in ballet. I began training under the tutelage of Tatiana Stepanova in the Vaganova method. I had to have a very open mind to learn a whole new way of dancing. I began with the basics of ballet and built up as the year went on. I wanted to learn everything I possibly could. Thankfully my teacher worked with me very precisely on every little specific detail, which made me really grow as a dancer. I was trying to grasp everything she was telling me.
That same year I competed at the prestigious international ballet competition, the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), where I was able to present myself to the ballet world. I got to see a little bit of how the ballet world was. I was very inspired and got many opportunities from there to train abroad in some of the top schools in the world. I chose to go the Academie de Danse Princesse Grace where I now reside and train with some of the best teachers and students in the world. I have definitely matured as a dancer. I have discovered new ways of working with my body and how to control everything I do. As an artist I am always changing with time. I am inspired by so much in the world. It could be from a painting, a song, and different aspects of nature. I especially draw inspiration from human behaviour and emotions.
ML: Why did you choose to study at the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco? SG: I chose to study here because it is one of the most prestigious dance schools in the world where they really take care of you. There are only 43 students here, meaning that no one is just a number. Everyone is at a high level and handpicked to be here. There are also so many different nationalities, which gives me the opportunity to learn about different cultures, customs and languages. We are like a big multicultural family. I believe that this school brings out the best in me through the great teaching methods and discipline.
ML: You spend about five and a half hours a day training. Can you tell us what your daily life is like, for example, a typical day at the academy? SG: A typical day at the academy is waking up at 6:30 am. I eat breakfast and take a morning walk to the studios of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. I start warming up 30 minutes before our 2-hour morning ballet class at 8. After class, we either have Pilates or French classes until lunch. Following lunch we begin with our hour and a half technique (ballet class but with more tricks and difficult movements) or variation class (a special solo dance). Later we either have contemporary, composition (creating choreography), or pas de deux classes, which normally last between 5:15 pm and 6:30 pm. After we eat dinner and have school courses. We try to fit in studying between classes. In the evening after the long day, we recuperate and relax by calling our friends and family. At 9:30 pm, we must be in our rooms and at 10 we go to sleep. Typically Sundays are a day of rest where we get to go out and enjoy Monaco.
ML: You’ve been described as a multi-talented dancer. Are you focussing on one area of discipline now? SW: I started at 6 years old in tap, jazz, open, contemporary, lyrical, modern, hip-hop and acro. I never wanted to be faced with the choice of just picking one style of dance, as I loved them all. I wanted to do everything and I appreciate every genre of dance. At age 13, I made the decision to pursue a career in ballet, as it is the most challenging and true form of dance, which speaks to me the most. My focus has been classical ballet and contemporary ever since.
ML: What do you hope to do after the Academy? SW: My hope is to be connected with dance for as long as I live. My dream is to dance professionally on the world stages and share my passion with the rest of the world. I want to give everything I have for the audiences in front of me. More specifically, my goal is to transmit the most emotion I can to touch people and make them feel passionate, curious, excited, and even sad. I live another life on stage while still being myself; I want people to see that and live it with me. I know that being a dancer doesn’t last forever but part of my dream is becoming a choreographer after I dance. I love to choreograph. Researching for music and ideas and creating steps is a process, which I love. I love exploring the ideas in my head and putting them into steps. I want to expand my knowledge as much as I can in my life and choreographing is the perfect way to do so.
ML: How often do you get to see your parents and two brothers? SW: We go on vacation during Christmas time and I go home for two months in the summer. Summer is the time where I catch up on my rest, quality time with my family, two dogs, relatives and Canadian friends. My mom comes to visit me sometimes in Monaco. My family is very important to me and they keep me grounded. In my first year, surprisingly I didn’t miss them as much as you would think but as the years go on I miss my family more and more because I realise how they make me a better person. I always know in my heart they are with me and they love and support me unconditionally.
ML: Was it tough when a lot of boys your age were embracing Canada’s hockey culture? SW: In my community, if you are a boy, you typically started playing hockey. It was definitely difficult to not have anybody my age that could relate or understand what I was doing. It was somewhat isolating. I felt no one really identified with me. I have always felt deeply connected, passionate and dedicated to this art form and I wanted everyone to understand what it was about. I tried to spread my love for dance because I know how invigorated it makes me feel. By introducing to all those I knew and who knew me that were not exposed to dance and the arts, my hope was to evoke those feelings in them. I truly believe art can heal the world.
ML: What do you miss about Canada? Favourite Canadian food? SW: I miss the change of seasons and nature. I took all of that for granted when I had it and now that I don’t, I feel like something is missing. I miss putting maple syrup on my pancakes or French toast and the sweet taste of butter tarts. The kindness of Canadians is something that you won’t find anywhere else.
ML: What does it mean to you to be Canadian? SW: I’m very proud to be Canadian. It’s been said that Canadians are known for their politeness. I would have to agree. Canadians are kind, outgoing people. We have a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities. We appreciate our differences and learn from each other. I have a lot of friends in Canada who come from different backgrounds. Growing up spending time with different friends and their families I had the opportunity to learn about their cultures through their cooking, languages spoken and certain customs. I feel that we as Canadians are very welcoming and open minded.
ML: Did you know from a young age that you had talent and going to do something big with your life? SW: I am fortunate to have discovered what I truly love and feel I was meant to do at a very young age. My focus has been to hone my craft, learn as much as I can and give 100 percent. The rewards have been to perform on stage and I am always so happy to give everything I have artistically and physically.
ML: Shale is an unusual name. Is this a family name? SW: The way my mother tells it, when she first became pregnant with me, the name Shale came to her. Coincidentally, when she was seven months, she got a phone call from someone asking to speak to Shale Wagman. Apparently there was already another Shale Wagman. It just happened to be the wrong number.
Fiorina Berezovsky lives with her parents and three older siblings in Monaco. She attends the Ecole de la Condamine where her favourite subject is Maths, but Art comes a close second. “There are lots of subjects I really like,” Fiorina, who turns 10 in August, told Monaco Life. “I have this one teacher, she’s really nice and gives us candy when we work well.”
Like many other girls her age, Fiorina gets up at 7 am, starts schools an hour and a half later, and then finishes classes at 4:30 pm. Unlike other girls her age, she is a national chess champion and spends a great deal of her free time, an hour or two per day, practicing for upcoming tournaments, either with exercises or with a trainer.
She comes by her talent naturally. Her father, who holds an international chess title, met her mother – Monaco’s Women’s Chess Champion – at a chess tournament in Ukraine. Fiorina’s two brothers and sister also play the chequered board game.
In fact, there are around a hundred people in Monaco’s Chess Federation – Le Cercle d’échecs de Monte-Carlo, or CEMC – although some live in neighbouring France or in Italy, and the Monaco chess championship is held annually.
Fiorina with Prince Albert at the Peace and Sport White Card Launch in March
This year, there was a collaboration between the CEMC and the Monaco association Peace and Sport. Young Fiorina, accompanied by her father Igor, attended the not-for-profit’s annual White Card event, which invites top-level sports personalities to be “Champions for Peace” to flash a white card for the official launch photo with Prince Albert.
After the group shot at the Yacht Club, His Serene Highness engaged the Principality’s young chess champion in conversation. “Prince Albert asked me which tournament I just did, and I told him it was in Cannes. Then he asked me if I did well, and I replied yes, because I scored five and a half out of seven – and that was good because it was my first time playing an Open, so there were boys and all ages and sometimes the boys look really confident but you just have to focus on your position. But it’s scary when they are really big.”
Fiorina has been playing chess for three and a half years. “I still get nervous the first two rounds because it’s new and I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
She used to play with at tournaments with her brother, Jonathan, who’s now 11. “I liked it when he did the tournaments with me and if I would lose he’d tell me it’s okay. But now I see lots of people who play at the same tournaments. Sometimes they give me the evil eye, but usually they’re friendly. We wish each other good luck and after the match, we’re friends.”
In Baku, Chess Olympiad
Fiorina, who says chess “exercises your brain”, started playing the board game around the age of 6, she entered her first competition and won. “Winning felt good, and I liked it. And it just happened to be the qualifications for the French championship. “If you don’t get qualified you don’t go.”
Fiorina, who speaks five languages – English, French, German, Russian and Ukrainian – played in Baku for Women’s Olympic Team of Monaco and was the youngest player to ever win a game.
“I won two games out of five. There were only about 3 or 5 kids and the rest were grown ups.
It feels weird sometimes to play with the grown ups. You don’t know how good they are, but you still have to try. Some of them are really experienced and some have just started.”
Fiorina admitted that she feels sad if she doesn’t win, but then learns from her mistakes and gets better. “Compared to my first tournaments, I’m much older now and have lots more experience so I play much better. I looked back at one of my games a few months ago and I saw that my moves were really bad.”
Her experience continues to broaden, having played in tournaments in Belfort, France – where she placed seventh in the French Championship for her age category after nine matches over five days – Cannes and Greece, and this year, an advantage of living in a small country like Monaco, the chess whiz will go to Brazil for the Children’s World Championship. But it was in Baku, Azerbaijan, last September, at the 42nd Chess Olympiad where the Monaco team player really made her mark as the youngest ever participant in the event, which was organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs.
In Baku, Chess Olympiad
“You need to battle when you play chess. You have to attack. And I like attacking but sometimes you have to defend and that’s when it gets interesting,” she said smiling. “When there are so many variations to calculate and when you just don’t know what’s going to happen.”
But it’s not all about chess. Fiorina takes drama on Wednesday afternoons – “I really like theatre because I can act a lot and I like chess because it’s fun to play and you have to think” – and likes to relax by playing on her phone, eating, or doing gymnastics.
Fiorina likes living in Monaco. “It’s really pretty and I like that it’s small so if you get lost it’s not that hard to find your way. I also like to go to the beach or the pool at the weekend.”
The water lover even did two years sailing for kids but her passion is chess. “I think I’ll always play chess. There’s the World Chess Championship and the Chess Olympiad, every two years, and I want to be a champion.”
Princess Caroline with Corinne Chauvet Photo: Axel Bastello/Palais Princier
Galerie Adriano Ribolzi rolled out the red carpet Thursday evening for the opening of a two-week exhibition by Corinne Chauvet, winner of the GemlucArt 2016.
The Grand Prix d’Art Contemporain Gemlucart is an international competition under the Honorary Presidency of HRH Princess of Hanover and awarded by the Gemluc, the Group of Monaco Enterprises in the fight against cancer, which since its creation in 1973, has donated €1,920,000 worth of equipment to various hospitals, including the Princess Grace in Monaco.
Ms Chauvet exquisitely epitomises the 2016 theme, Explosion of Joy (“Fous Rires”), with her 44 clay sculptures and paintings, each of which offer an extension of the artist’s own enlightened disposition.
Corinne Chauvet “Explosion of Joy” GamlucArt16. Photo: Axel Bastello/Palais PrincierGamlucArt16 winner Corinne Chauvet at Ribolzi Gallery Photo: F Terlin
“I am honoured to win this award, but equally as moved by the warmth and welcome I have received here in Monaco,” Ms Chauvet, who studied art history and visual arts at the Paul Valéry University Montpellier and the University of Leicester, told Monaco Life. “And it’s wonderful that GemlucArt is in support of the fight against cancer.”
As an artist-in-residence, Ms Chauvet has been influenced from her time in León in northwest Spain, and the small pottery town of Shigaraki in Japan. “I didn’t know Japan at all when I arrived,” the award-winning potter shared. “I discovered an international community, with a mix of rich cultures and exchanges.”
She was also introduced to a population with kindness and warmth, which she says is a contrast to the French. “While the French have everything to be happy about,” she commented, “they are always complaining while in less affluent countries, people smile and support each other.” This distinction influenced her work.
Corinne Chauvet sculpture at Ribolzi Gallery. Photo: F TerlinGamlucArt16 winner Corinne Chauvet with Adriano Riblozi at Ribolzi Gallery Photo: F Terlin
Her serenity and ability to live in the moment is apparent in her Buddhist-like miniature sculptures, each of which tells a tale although Ms Chauvet says she does not attach a specific story to a specific work during the artistic process. “I want to create an energy that represents the Buddhist mentality and that speaks to people and makes them smile.”
This synergy is something the artist works on daily. “I nearly lost part of my arm in an accident four years ago,” Ms Chauvet shared. “I work with my hands and this was terrifying. But I was able to find inner peace at the possibility.” She said that ever since, she takes time every day to remind herself of what is important in life.
She added, “For me, art is the ability to nourish each sculpture as I nourish each of my children.”
Ms Chauvet accompanied Princess Caroline on a tour of her work in the standing-room only gallery.
GemlucArt awards seven prizes as decided by a jury of museum curators and art critics. The 2016 judges were: Jean-Pierre Pastor (President), Guillaume Barclay (Vice-President), Doctor Beatrice Brych (President of GEMLUC), Adriano Ribolzi, François-Xavier Ciais, Frank Michel, Ondine Roman, Michele Beddington, Mercedes Duerinckx (with the assistance of Nathalie de Weerdt) and Clivio Piccione.
The 2017 edition – the ninth year of the competition – brings the work of a hundred artists to Monaco, and helps to raise money for clinical cancer research, support cancer patients and their families as well as to contribute to the prevention, detection, and care of the disease.
This year’s edition runs from October 11 to 16 at Auditorium Rainier III.
Observing from a corner his sister with Princess Caroline, Ms Chauvet’s brother was brought to tears. “Corrine has worked so hard, and we lost our father only two weeks ago. He would have been as proud as I am.”
Corrine Chauvet’s exposition runs until September 30 at Galerie Adriano Ribolzi (3 ave de l’Hermitage), open Tuesday to Saturday, 9:30 am-12:30 pm and 2:30 pm-7 pm.
Corinne Chauvet “Explosion of Joy” GamlucArt16. Photo: Monaco Life
Roger Goffinet, Nicoletta Ribolzi, Corinne Chauvet, Adriano Ribolzi and Axelle Comte. Photo: Monaco Life
Corinne Chauvet “Explosion of Joy” GamlucArt16. Photo: Monaco Life
Secretary of State at the Palace, Jacques Boisson, and his wife. Photo: Monaco Life
Waiting to present flowers to Princess Caroline at GamlucArt16. Photo: Monaco Life
Corinne Chauvet “Explosion of Joy” GamlucArt16. Photo: Monaco Life
André de Montigny, Honorary Consul of Brazil in Monaco and Luciana de Montigny, President of Brasil Monaco Project. Photo: Monaco Life
Corinne Chauvet “Explosion of Joy” GamlucArt16. Photo: Monaco Life
GamlucArt16 Corinne Chauvet at Ribolzi Gallery Photo: Monaco Life
GamlucArt16 Corinne Chauvet at Ribolzi Gallery Photo: Monaco Life
Paddock Wood plaque unveiling. Photo: Jany and Tim Dodds
On September 15, 2017, a blue plaque was put up commemorating Paddock Wood Finishing School and the WWII Free French Rehabilitation Centre in Lightwater in the UK.
The unveiling was witnessed by 20 former teachers and students, including Pippa Anderson, who recounted the remarkable story of Rosette Savill, a Monegasque who offered her Paddock Wood home as a rehabilitation and recovery site for injured Free French soldiers and Resistance personnel.
Rosette Savill. Photo: Courtesy of Pippa Anderson
Rosette Veronique Persenda was born in Monaco at midnight on Monday, September 19, 1898, to Jean Persenda, a 29-year-old Italian electrician domiciled in Monaco and 28-year-old Monegasque Valentine Coscioli.
Rosette had two sisters and a brother. The family moved to Villa Valentine in Maison Persenda a tall and elegant home on rue des Géraniums, which still exists today.
As a toddler, Rosette had a terrible accident in the garden. She was found almost totally submerged, facedown in the murky water of their pond by the family’s gardener. It was her little red shoes that the gardener recognised and quickly pulled her out of the water; she wasn’t breathing.
With no signs of life, family members made a pilgrimage to a small church in a village in the mountains just above Monaco. Here, the Persendas, a religious family, prayed in desperation, and at that moment, Rosette in Monaco started to breathe again; she was saved. For many years the little red shoes that Rosette had been wearing hung on the wall inside the church in commemoration.
Rosette excelled at school. She was highly creative and spoke French, English and Italian. In her late teens, she went into dress designing, finishing her training in Paris. When the First World War broke out, Rosette and her sisters helped by becoming nurses in the local hospital.
On June 19, 1926, the British Consul in Monaco married Rosette and Stewart Savill, and shortly afterwards the Savills opened a dress shop in Monte Carlo, close to the Hotel de Paris.
But, by 1935, the Savills had moved to England as they wanted a British education for their sons. They lived in London’s East Finchley, at 24 Thornton Way, NW11 and ran a successful couturier business in Grosvenor Street, in London’s West End. According to one newspaper article “they designed delightful clothes, fancy hats and long gloves for the social events of the day”. However, with the outbreak of the Second World War and feeling this occupation inappropriate, the Savills closed their business.
Savills close their business, Rosette joins Free French Forces
Mrs Savill with her eldest son, Val. Photo: Courtesy of Pippa Anderson
After the collapse of France and General de Gaulle’s call up in 1940, Rosette joined de Gaulle’s Free French Forces as a Welfare Officer. (De Gaulle wanted Mrs Savill to direct the French Forces in the UK but she didn’t take him up on his offer as she didn’t like khaki.)
It was at this time that the Savill family moved to Lightwater, to Paddock Wood, “a delightfully situated Victorian residence” in “charming and well matured gardens, grounds and paddock in about 7¼ acres.”
Mrs Savill immersed herself in her duty as a welfare officer in London and locally. She gathered the support of a distinguished committee of public figures to organise fetes, charity sales, concerts etc., to raise money for Service Clubs for French Officers and men.
She sourced supplies of bedding and furniture necessary for the upkeep of these centres and worked tirelessly for charitable organisations, as well as financing, setting up, feeding and clothing escapees, arriving from France.
One such club was the Club of the Free French Navy. A newspaper article dated November 15, 1941, describes it as being opened by the Duke of Kent with 350 members. “The whole house possesses an atmosphere of comfort and good fellowship with Mrs Stewart Savill as guide, philosopher and friend. She personally attends to the catering, looks after the staff, decorates the rooms with flowers and has a word of welcome for everyone.”
In addition to this charitable work, in the grounds of her new home under massive security, the Savills set up a secret reception centre (or safe house) for the French Resistance Movement where agents could rest between spells of duty in occupied France. They converted the coach house and stable block into a convalescent home for those who had lost limbs in the war, where they could be trained to use their new, artificial limbs supplied by the not too far away Roehampton Hospital.
From the French Resistance to a Finishing School
Paddock Wood Finishing School for girls. Photo: Desmond O’Neill.
It was at this time that the Savills found themselves with a home that had been extended out of all proportion to their family needs. Mrs Savill was held in high esteem by countless men and women who had returned home to France with a great affection for her and for England. Some of those she had looked after wrote to her, asking if she could arrange an English education for their daughters.
For three years after the war, the Savills developed their home into a holiday centre, nurturing the chrysalis of their first 3-week summer school. In the beginning it was for the 16 to 18-year-old daughters of French officers the Savills had known during the war, and later on, young women from all over Europe were included.
From its foundation as a summer school for foreign girls to learn English, it snowballed rapidly to success, as satisfied parents around the world wanted their daughters to stay longer than a summer to gain the benefit of English upper-class polish and etiquette.
In 1949 Mrs Savill – with the help and support of four patrons with whom she had worked very closely during the war: the Marchioness of Crewe, Lady Cynthia Colville, Lord Bessborough and Lord Stanmore – opened her full-scale Finishing School.
The Savill family moved into their own small, separate home on the estate called “The Cottage”, which made room for the students to occupy their large Paddock Wood home. The old stables were converted into classrooms and to make it viable, and up-to-date equipment was added to attract both British and foreign students. A 1950s prospectus has the fees at this time as 180 guineas per term – the equivalent of about €6730 (£6000) today.
Mrs Savill cleverly mixed the highly original systems of the academic, the practical and the gracious in her syllabus and her Finishing School was an instant success. Foreign girls found Paddock Wood an interesting and charming place in which to learn English and British girls found they could prepare for a career with all the advantages that had previously only been offered by Swiss schools.
As Mrs Savill and her all-year-round finishing school became better known amongst families around the world in the 1950s, the school had to grow and the number of bedrooms and facilities needed to be increased. As land around Paddock Wood came up for sale, Mrs Savill cleverly purchased it and in the 1960s, an extensive programme of redevelopment of the estate was undertaken.
We know that Mrs Savill’s eldest son, Val, completed his degree at Oxford and that he was instrumental in the redesigning of the estate, giving the school its distinctive style – most likely derived from two much older local properties nearby, which still exist.
Then the Savills extended the small Cottage they’d lived in, so it was worthy of receiving parents of prospective students; they called it Savill House.
Honoured for her work
In 1963 – and unbeknown to Mrs Savill – enquiries were being made into her wartime voluntary work by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris, as requested by the French Consul General in London.
The Minister’s department spoke to former refugees and fighting men who’d fled to the UK after the fall of France in 1940, interviewed blind and limbless heroes who’d recuperated at Paddock Wood and the department also spoke to survivors of Nazi concentration camps who were brought to Paddock Wood after the end of the war.
The enquiries took over four years to complete; they concluded that Mrs Savill should be honoured for her work. With the permission of Queen Elizabeth II, on May 26, 1967, General de Gaulle appointed Mrs Savill as a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite de la République Française, or Knight of the National Order of Merit of France, for the exceptional service she gave to France during the War.
Paddock Wood closed after the Iran/Iraq War and the Falklands War took their toll on student numbers from the Middle East and South America, in early 1983.
Mrs Savill died on Sunday, October 30, 1983. Paddock Wood was sold and redeveloped; its 26 acres now has 1500 homes.
Pippa Anderson with mayor at Paddock Wood Finishing School for girls. plaque unveiling. Photo: Jany and Tim Dodds
Article written, and republished with kind permission, by Pippa Anderson, Paddock Wood Finishing School Alumni. Gillian Barnes of Surrey Heath’s Museum was behind the blue plaque initiative. Article first published October 17, 2017.
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On Tuesday, May 30, officially at 2 pm CET, one of Monaco’s most respected and active members of the community, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, joined the Giving Pledge, the “global, multi-generational initiative” that encourages the most affluent individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.
