MORE ON JEAN-PAUL DIVO

Jean-Paul Divo was born in Luxemburg on August 8, 1937 and passed away on 13. 2. 2014. His interest in literature, art and history was „placed in his cradle“ by his parents. As a schoolboy one could find him in the fields around Luxemburg where, at that time, one could literally pick up Roman coins from the ground. The evenings were spent with cataloguing the thus found coins. He became acquainted with Romain Probst, later a coin dealer, and the scholar Raymond Weiler in the Luxemburg Numismatic Association. These were to become friendships that lasted a lifetime.

Having finished his military service in 1958 he answered an advertisement for a coin dealer by the firm of Seaby’s in London and was accepted. This was the beginning of a great numismatic life. His occupational career was varied and international in scope. He first worked for the classical firms of Seaby’s, Bank Leu and Spink (there as business manager of the Zurich office), then as partner with the Hess-Divo AG (formerly Adolph Hess AG).

It is remarkable that he found the time and energy to write so many books and articles, aside from the many auction catalogues. Some of these will remain standard works for generations. They mirror his great and broad numismatic knowledge.

With Edwin Tobler he wrote the standard reference books for Swiss coins since the 17th century. But he also was interested in the coins of modern Greece, Great Britain, and towards the end of his life, France and Alsace. He wrote two books on French medals with the collaboration of his wife, Françoise Page-Divo. The author of this obituary was also impressed by his knowledge and interest for the small, sometimes obscure areas of numismatics.

He spoke fluent German, French, Luxemburg Dialect, English and Italian. He even learned rudimentary Japanese through his work as business manager for Spink-Taisei, thus being able to conduct several auctions in Tokyo. Readers of the Swiss magazine NumisPost knew him as Ovid, who sent monthly letters from Paris. He reported about the French numismatic market, museums, personalities and everything that was of interest to collectors.

To read the complete article, see: Jean-Paul Divo (1937-2014) (www.coinsweekly.com/en/News/4?&id=2654)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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