Today, the International School of Geneva is known as the world's oldest and largest private international school, having opened in 1924 under the name "International School". Many schools have attempted to foster an international environment in a general sense; this school is the first to claim an "inter-national" identity with reference to a specific political ideology. In this article, I argue that neither student statistics, nor official discourse, nor the individual experience of consecrated School founders can account for this claim. After careful analysis of different forms of capital invested in the School, its founding no longer appears to be a simple response to a "need" or a "demand" but a complex process of social distinction.