354 J.-A. PEMBERTON
existence of universal norms to which all nations must bow in the face
of doctrines steeped in notions of racial and biological difference which
furiously denounced the existence of noms of universal applicability.^12
In addition to seeking to reduce the influence of the dictators and
increase support for the democracies, the correspondence in question
served as a means of defending the legacy of the ICO and the League itself.
For example, Mistral, in a letter entitled ‘On the Originality of Peoples,’
observed that it was somewhat dishonest to say that the ‘root principles’ of
the ICO had failed as had the political principles of the League of Nations.
She noted that in the messages of peace being sent throughout the world
whether emanating from the American president or from more humble
sources, one could not fail to discern ‘the features of a well-known face’:
underlying them all was the otherwise ‘despised “Geneva spirit”’.^13
Adopting a slightly different emphasis to that of the other contribu-
tors, Mistral commenced her letter by stating that what was commenda-
ble about the ICO was that in the tradition of French humanism, it had
distinguished between political power and culture: the directors of the
ICO and the IIIC had embraced the idea that ‘individuality’ of small and
‘exotic cultures’ may be as valuable as the ‘universality of the major cul-
tures’.^14 After having observed that it could have done more in regard
to smaller cultures, she urged the ICO to speedily advance its efforts to
‘save the household gods of all the cultures that seem to go under with
the sacrifice of the smaller peoples.’^15 Mistral, who was of mixed Basque
and Indigenous descent and who described herself as Indo-Spanish,
insisted that the work of the ICO was needed more urgently than ever.
She concluded her letter in stating the following:
Admirably loyal to the people illustrious for their arts but unable to
spread knowledge of them, the Organisation should widen its scope to
include treasures which it knows but of which the masses are ignorant; the(^14) Ibid., 122.
(^15) Ibid., 122, 128.
(^12) Informations sur la Coopération Intellectuelle (b), nos. 1–2 (1939), 4; ‘Extraits de la
réponse de M. J. Huizinga,’ Informations sur la Coopération Intellectuelle, nos. 3–4 (1940):
47–9; ‘Extraits de la lettre de M. Carlos Silva Vildosola’; ‘Extraits de la lettre de M. Louis
Piérard’; and ‘Extraits de la lettre de M. Edgard Jannsens,’ Informations sur la Coopération
Intellectuelle, no. 6 (1940): 185–89.
(^13) ‘Open Letters: Extracts from the Letter of Mlle. Mistral,’ Intellectual Co-operation
Bulletin, no. 5 (1940): 122–28, 128.