Busts
The halls of the Peace Palace are adorned with various artworks reflecting its function as the headquarters of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, including busts of prominent individuals who contributed to the establishment of the PCA and to the furtherance of the ideals of peace and justice embodied by the Court.
Notable figures such as Tobias Asser, Louis Renault, and Bertha von Suttner were instrumental in shaping the foundations of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and advancing international peace. Their efforts in pioneering arbitration, advocating for human rights, and promoting peaceful diplomacy continue to resonate with the mission of the PCA and its enduring role in resolving international disputes.
Bust of Tobias Asser (1838-1913)
Tobias Asser was a Dutch legal expert on private international law and a delegate to the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 where he urged the principle of compulsory arbitration be introduced in the economic area. He also served as arbitrator in the very first case heard before the PCA—the Pious Fund of the Californias, between the United States and Mexico (PCA Case No. 1902-01). He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1911.
Bust of Louis Renault (1843-1918)
French legal scholar Louis Renault was a professor of international law at the University of Paris and represented France at the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907. He served as one of the arbitrators in the PCA’s second ever case—the Japanese House Tax Case, a taxpayers’ rights case, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1907 (PCA Case No. 1902-02).
Bust of Friedrich F. Martens (1845-1909)
Friedrich F. Martens was the legal advisor to the Russian court in St. Petersburg, and is credited with convincing Tsar Nicolas II to convene the 1899 Hague Peace Conference and create the PCA. In addition to representing Russia at the Peace Conference, he also served as arbitrator in some of the PCA’s first cases, including the North Atlantic Coast Fisheries dispute (PCA Case N0. 1909-01).
Bust of Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914)
A leading figure in the peace movement as the author of the pacifist novel “Die Waffen nieder!” (“Lay Down Your Arms”), Suttner was an early instigator of the idea of an international court such as the PCA, and the only female delegate to attend the 1899 Hague Peace Conference. In 1905, she received the Nobel Peace Prize and participated in the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907. She attended the opening of the Peace Palace in 1913 and died in 1914, just six weeks prior to the start of World War I.
Bust of Jean Henri Dunant (1828-1910)
Swiss businessman and social activist. During a business trip in 1859, he witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in modern day Italy and recorded these experiences in the book “A Memory of Solferino”, which inspired the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863. The 1864 Geneva Convention was based on Dunant’s ideas. In 1901, he received the very first Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passy, the latter “for his lifelong work on international peace conferences, diplomacy, and arbitration”.
Bust of Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)
German theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for his philosophy of “Reverence for Life”, expressed in many ways, but most famously in founding and sustaining the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, now in Gabon, west central Africa.
Bust of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841-1910)
Also known as “The Peacemaker” on account of his ability to because to negotiate disputes between countries in order to maintain good relations. He knew how to act diplomatically and tried to strengthen England’s relations with France and Russia in particular.
Bust of Charles Lyon Caen (1843-1935)
A French lawyer and a close friend of Louis Renault, Lyon Caen was an authority on commercial and private international law and authored several important works on international law. He was the second president of the Hague Academy of International Law.
Bust of Sir William Randal Cremer (1828-1908)
A well-known pacifist and English Liberal Member of Parliament, Cremer won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1903, mainly for his work in international arbitration, and particularly the 1897 Anglo-American arbitration treaty. He co-founded the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the International Arbitration League.
Bust of Jean Monnet (1888-1979)
Regarded by many as a chief architect of European Unity, Monnet was the French representative on the Inter-Allied Maritime Commission and after World War I served as Deputy Secretary-General of the League of Nations. In 1950, Monnet and Robert Schuman proposed the establishment of a common European market for coal and steel- the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The ECSC inspired the creation of the European Economic Community, or Common market, in 1957.
Bust of Hugo Grotius (1583-1645)
Sometimes referred to as the “father of international law”, Grotius was a central figure in politics and science in the first half of the 17th century. He gained international fame for his research in the field of national law, the law of nations, philology, theology, and historiography. To a large extent, the Netherlands owes its reputation as a center of international law to Grotius.
Bust of Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)
Scottish-American steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated $1.5 million dollars to finance the construction of the Peace Palace on land donated by the Dutch monarchy in order to serve as the courthouse for the PCA.
Bust of William Thomas Stead (1849-1912)
English journalist and peace activist William T. Stead was a close friend of Andrew Carnegie and is credited with convincing him to donate to the construction of the Peace Palace. However, he died on the Titanic very shortly before the opening of the Peace Palace in 1913.
Bust of Aletta H. Jacobs (1854-1929)
Dutch physician and women’s suffrage activist Aletta Jacobs fought for women’s right to vote from 1883 until women finally gained the right to vote in the Netherlands in 1919.
Bust of Rui Barbosa de Oliveira (1849-1923)
Rui Barbosa was an important Brazilian writer, jurist, and politician. He wrote the constitution for Brazil’s newly formed republic in 1890 and held various government posts before eventually heading the Brazilian Delegation to the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907.
Bust of Andrés Bello (1781-1865)
Bello was a Venezuelan/Chilean humanist, poet, lawmaker, philosopher, educator, and philologist, whose political and literary works constitute an important part of Latin American law and culture. In 1832, Bello authored the first text in Latin America on international law, the “Principios de derecho internacional” (“Principles of International Law”).
Bust of Carlos Calvo (1824-1906)
Carlos Calvo was an Argentinian lawyer and historian who authored some of the earliest comprehensive texts on international law in both Latin America and Europe.
Bust of Bernard Cornelia John Loder (1849-1935)
Loder was a Dutch specialist in maritime law. He represented the Netherlands at international conferences on the Law of the Sea, and also served on the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. In 1920, Loder also participated in drafting the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice, and then served as the first President of the PCIJ from 1921-1924, remaining as judge of the PCIJ until 1930.
Bust of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)
Nehru was the first and longest-serving prime minister of independent India, serving from 1947 to 1964. As one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, he was an important figure in the international politics of the post-war era.
Bust of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)
Mahatma Gandhi, as he is commonly known around the world, was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. This bronze bust was a gift from India.
Bust of Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)
Mandela was the first President of South Africa to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, serving from 1994–99. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, who served 27 years in prison, many of them on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela supported reconciliation in leading the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
