Icons of Europe

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Icons of Europe

  "Europe's identity and future
are rooted in its great culture"
- Cecilia and Jens Jorgensen¹

Icons of Europe™ is an independent not-for-profit association based at Brussels.  We use Icons of great culture as a platform for dialogue and inspiration in the world of today.

For the press | Pour la presse

Chopin by Eugène Delacroix (at Louvre), a cut of a larger oil painting with George Sand.  Icons of Europe provides a plausible explanation.We believe that Icons of art, music, literature and science capture the imagination and stimulate cross-border exchanges of.ideas and knowledge on contemporary societal issues.

For example:  the identity of Europe, the need to re-write history, transatlantic relations, and the re-emergence of tuberculosis.  Relating to all four issues, the subject of CHOPIN's life and legacy has become a particularly important priority for our work.  Chopin 2010 will remain a milestone.

Other Icons of Europe research priorities are NAPOLEON's rise to power;  the cultural exchanges of the distinguished 19th century BOSTON SATURDAY CLUB with Europe;  and the life, works and downfall of OSCAR WILDE. - "The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it" (Oscar Wilde in The Critic As Artist).

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This flag is a symbol for the Council of Europe (Strasbourg) and the European Union. Founded in 2001
Icons of Europe was inaugurated under the auspices of
the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Walter Schwimmer.  Icons of Europe organized a concert to celebrate the EU enlargement in 2002.
  The policy direction and funding of Icons of Europe itself are independent of any third party.


Core activity
Independent historical research and creative applications

Detail of "Self-Portrait" by Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), at Buckingham Palace.  The Royal Collection © 2002 HM Queen Elizabeth II.  Photo by A.C. Cooper Ltd.  The image was made available to Icons of Europe by Royal Collection Enterprises, Windsor Castle, United Kingdom. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), born in Salzburg, Austria.  "Mozart is sunshine" - Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904).  Portrait painted by Barbara Krafft nearly three decades after Mozart's death. Born in Germany, Albert Einstein (1879-1955) received the Nobel Prize in Physics 1921.  Albert Einstein had close relations with Belgium, which included Ernest Solvay and later King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth. Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603).  Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a contemporary of her.

Key people of Icons of Europe

-  Jens A. Jorgensen, co-founder and president.  Formerly with
    McKinsey, two multinational industrials, and a U.N. agency.

-  Cecilia Jorgensen
, co-founder and creative director.  A former
   vice-president of an investment bank;  holds like Jens an MBA.

-  Daniel Blumenthal, advisor to Icons of Europe.  Renowned
   pianist and professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.


The value of
great culture:
dialogue / inspiration

Act 5 of "The Composer and the Nightingale":  “La Mort de Chopin”;  detail of print based on an 1885 oil painting by Félix Barrias.  Icons of Europe considers that the woman in white is Jenny Lind.


CHOPIN 2010 ADVISORS

The Fryderyk Chopin Institute (NIFC) in Warsaw invited, in a letter of 12 May 2006, Cecilia and Jens Jorgensen, Icons of Europe to be "honorary advisors" to the Chopin 2010 programme. 
>> NIFC | More | More

FIGHTING TUBERCULOSIS
Icons of Europe is a
partner
of the WHO global
Stop TB Partnership.
Our initiatives support in particular World TB Day.

G8 SUMMIT 2009
Icons of Europe was invited to insert a message in the G8 policy-debate book used in connection with the 2009 G8 Summit (ref. our proposal).


Icons of Europe asbl
B-1380 Brussels
Tel. +32 2 633 3840
Fax +32 2 633 4445
icons@europe.com


Websites we manage:

- Iconsofeurope.com

- IconPortal.com
-
JennyLind.org
- DanielBlumenthal.com
- GalerieBeaumont.com

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Icons of Europe

The logo of Icons of Europe, a registered trademark
,
was designed and introduced in April 2004.  The
rainbow
symbolizes many aspects of the value of great culture:  bridge /
inspiration / dialogue / hope / continuity / diversity / identity.

¹ "National icons and household names such as Da Vinci, Chopin and Shakespeare
provide strong bonds between many European countries.  This cultural diversity
represents a huge asset that all adds up to an essential part of Europe's identity
and values." - Our letter published in the International Herald Tribune (2004).

Note:  "asbl" = association sans but lucratif
(a not-for-profit organization).