"The egg or the tile?" Père Dominique Pire, Prix Nobel of Peace 1958
On November 10, 1958, a Belgian was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his action in favor of refugees from Eastern Europe. Despite this prestigious award, the figure of Dominique Pire (1910-1969) remains largely unknown. Rare are those who still know his immense work in the service of the most disadvantaged, his commitment to peace, or his original conception of fraternal dialogue between men and between peoples...
From November 6 to 15, 2026, the "IIes de Paix" branch in Arlon offers a retrospective dedicated to this visionary fellow citizen. Produced by the State Archives, the exhibition traces, through documents and personal souvenirs, the journey of this great man of heart and action. It presents the main stages of his life and the various works he founded: the Service of Entraide Familiale, Aid to Personnes Déplacées, the Parrainages Mondiaux, the Université de Paix and the Iles de Paix.
The public will discover various writings but also numerous photographs, excerpts from period films as well as a few objects. There are some very unusual ones, such as this charred tile brought back from Hiroshima and this egg received during a visit to an Algerian refugee camp in Afrique du Nord... Dominique Pire carefully preserved these two objects and used them as symbols to challenge his contemporaries by placing them before a decisive choice upon which, according to him, the fate of humanity depended.
"The egg or the tile?" Guided by this enigmatic question, the visitor will discover, at the end of the journey, the message that this man of peace wanted to transmit to future generations – a message of astonishing topicality.
An event organized in memory of his legacy, in partnership with the State Archives.