Gilberte de Courgenay

Gilberte Montavon de Courgenay was a Swiss waitress who became a national symbol of spiritual national defense during World War I and World War II. She entertained Swiss Army troops at the Hôtel de Gare in Courgenay, which was owned by her family, and became popular with the soldiers. In 1917, the composer and folklorist Hanns In der Gand gave a concert at the hotel and performed his new song La petite Gilberte, written about Montavon. The song was adopted by the army to boost morale throughout the war. Montavon inspired Rudolph Bolo Mäglin's 1939 novel Gilberte de Courgenay and his play of the same name. Two films, August Kern's Marguerite et les soldates in 1940 and Franz Schnyder's Gilberte de Courgenay in 1941, were based on her life.