Icons of Europe This fleur-de-lys represents the aims of Icons of Europe asbl. The fleur-de-lys figure has been used as an ornament or emblem by almost all civilisations of the old and new worlds.
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A partner of the WHO-housed Stop TB Partnership, Icons of Europe participates in the global fight against tuberculosis.
Keats, Weber, Chopin, de Tocqueville, Kafka, Orwell and many other Icons died early in their life of TB.

"Their legacy provides an opportunity
to call attention to the re-emergence of TB as a
massive global challenge in the 21st century."
Cecilia and Jens Jorgensen
Founders and managers, Icons of Europe
Icons of Europe TB Fund

Jenny Lind (1820-1887) on the current SKR 50 banknote. She was Chopin's financial and mysical patron in 1848-1849 and made an unsuccessful attempt to marry him.A good deal of the TB-related work of Icons of Europe uses the life and music of Fryderyk Chopin as well as Jenny Lind as a platform for advocacy, insight and dialogue.  The work is funded by Icons of Europe (pro.bono), and by contributions to the Icons of Europe TB FUND.  To propose a donation, please contact us.
OUR INITIATIVES SINCE 2003
World TB Day 2008 at New York

 On the occasion of World TB Day, the U.S. premiere of Icons of Europe's “Chopin and The Nightingale” takes place at the Marcella Sembrich Opera Museum, Bolton Landing (Lake George) in New York State on 25 and 27 July 2008. >> MORE
Advocacy 2006-2007
  • Editing of various Wikipedia pages related to tuberculosis, so that the legacy of TB victims such as Chopin, John Keats, Alexis de Tocqueville, and apparently the Chinese emperor in the nightingale story of Hans Christian Andersen would be better understood.
  • We wrote a letter to the editor of the International Herald Tribune on the editorial "Extreme tuberculosis" (15 September 2006) to comment on its conclusion “Generosity is needed to fix it”.   We emphasized:  "It is not a matter of charity and a patch-up.  It is about a global objective of investing in people and the security of nations."  >> BBC
  • Icons of Europe signed The Call to Stop TB in early 2006.  We continue to convey information on this subject to a wide audience.
  • On 31 January 2006, the Stop TB Partnership named Icons of Europe "PARTNER OF THE WEEK" and placed information on our association at the Stoptb.org home page.
World TB Day 2005 at Toronto
Meghan Fleet, soprano, in the role of Jenny Lind at World TB Day 2005.

In Toronto, the musical drama "Chopin and The Nightingale" and a Chopin / Bellini concert were produced pro bono to promote World TB Day 2005.  The Royal Museum of Ontario, the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto Public Health, Stop TB Canada, the British High Commission to Canada, the Embassy of Canada in Brussels, and the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw participated in this transatlantic initiative (>> poster).

A Chopin biography, with an inscription by the Director-General of the World Health Organization, was given free to all VIP guests attending the event.
As a tribute to Poland and Canada, an essay by Icons of Europe was published in Chopin in the World on the fate of Polish art treasures during WW2.  The conclusion of this essay refers to World TB Day 2005 and "the dangerous global epidemic".
"Did the emperor suffer from tuberculosis?", 2005
An essay on the occasion of World TB Day 2005 by Cecilia Jorgensen,
Icons of Europe, related to The Nightingale story by Hans Christian Andersen.
Swedish Embassy, Warsaw, 2004

The Royal Castle, Warsaw.Following an expert roundtable and press conference at the Philharmonic on 1 March 2004 (Chopin's birthday), the Chopin / Jenny Lind musical drama was performed at the Swedish Embassy in Warsaw on 6 April 2004 for an international VIP audience to celebrate the new Europe.

Rothschild Europe was main sponsor of this event.
Premiere at Brussels, 2003

Act 4, Hope: "What a duet it will be!" (from The Nightingale story by Hans Christian Andersen, 1843).The musical drama had its first premiere near Brussels in 2003.  With patronage by six ambassadors, this event was sponsored by BP, Royal Danish Embassy, LOT and Telefonica.

Chopin biography, 2003

Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849).The biography Chopin and The Swedish Nightingale (2003), written and published by the founders of Icons of Europe call attention to how Chopin died of TB.

It conveys a TB message from the Director-General of the World Health Organization, the late Dr J.W. Lee.
Book income is dedicated to the Icons of Europe TB Fund.

Danes Worldwide, 2003

Simon is a perfectly healthy grandson of the founders of Icons of Europe. Photo: copyright © 2004 Icons of Europe, B-1380 Lasne.The global TB threat, including the HIV/AIDS and MDR risks, was noted in our general programme folder and in Danes Worldwide (November 2003).


- Stop TB Partnership
- Our listing as a partner
- The Call to stop TB
- International TB rates
- The Global Plan
- The Kochon Prize

DG / WHO
The Director-General of the World Health Organization signed in 2003 this message on the inside cover of Chopin and The Swedish Nightingale:

"The fight against the great infectious killers - HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria - must remain among WHO's highest priorities." 

>>  Inscription | Biography


“La Liberté guidant le peuple”, 1830, by Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863). Oil painting, at the Musée de Louvre.

"In Europe, the revolutions of the 19th century were to a large extent driven by fury over political oppression and despair over the poor living conditions of the growing urban centres."

"These conditions bred public health scourges such as tuberculosis and cholera."

Source:  page 66 of Chopin and The Swedish Nightingale. 


Jenny Lind, The Swedish Nightingale (1820-1887).

CHOPIN / JENNY LIND
Chopin suffered from tuberculosis.  When Jenny Lind sang for him in 1848-1849, he felt better and he called her "my nurse".  Jenny Lind raised funds to fight the disease.