Léon Savary (

Fleurier Fleurier was a municipality in the district of Val-de-Travers in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009, the former municipalities of Boveresse, Buttes, Couvet, Fleurier, Les Bayards, Môtiers, Noiraigue, Saint-Sulpice and ...

, 1895 - Boudry, 1968) was a Swiss French-speaking writer and journalist from Payerne,

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

Biography

Savary was the son of a German russified aristocratic mother from the Baltic region (Von Paucker) and a father who was Protestant pastor from

and was a converted to Roman Catholicism. After studying at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisi ...

, he worked from 1921 to 1923 for the Geneva newspaper '' la tribune de Genève'', in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, and correspondent in Bern (1935-1946) and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

(1946-1956). He was Historian of the city of his own choice

Fribourg , neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne , twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France) , website = www.ville-fribourg.ch , Location of , Location of () () ...

.Biograph
Léon Savary in ''Larousse'' Dictionary
Retrieved March 4, 2014 He wrote about twenty books, most of them are not published anymore. With René de Weck and Gonzague de Reynold, he formed the

troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to: Cultural tradition * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia * Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance Pol ...

of Fribourg writers of the early twentieth century. He had a great knowledge of the Swiss political system and habits. In ''Letters with Suzanne'' ( French: ''Lettres à Suzanne'', Lausanne, Switzerland, 1949), he denounced ''"the occult influence of hitlerism on Swiss people during the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, which were not conscious of being under"''. About Swiss Politic in general, in the same book, covering the Federal Palace, he said, with his alert and sharp pen: ''"The Swiss do not desire great men, and in politics, they are afraid to have them. What they like is honesty and average aptitude to manage public affairs like a shop. They mistrust superiority and, let us frankly admit, they are horrified at genius. No geniuses, no saints, even talent is suspect. It is enough to say that a politician who showed signs of surpassing the low water mark would be promptly subject to public discredit''" After coming back from

in 1956, he spent the end of his life in the cities of

Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of ...

and

Bulle Bulle (; frp, Bulo ) is a municipality in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. In January 2006 Bulle incorporated the formerly independent municipality of La Tour-de-Trême. History Ancient times Bulle is first ...

Works

* ''Le secret de Joachim Ascalles'', 1923 * ''Manido chez les genevois'',1927. * ''Fribourg'', Payot, Lausanne, 1929. * ''Le Collège Saint-Michel'', 1932. * ''La chartreuse de La Valsainte'', 1937. * ''Le fardeau léger'', 1938. * ''Le cordon d'argent'', 1940. * ''La fin d'un mensonge'', 1940. * ''Le troupeau sans berger'', 1942. * ''En passant'', la Tribune de Genève editions, 1942. * ''Au seuil de la sacristie'', 1942. * ''Lettres à Suzanne'', 1949. * ''Le cendrier d'Erymanthe'', 1953. * ''Les anges gardiens'', 1953. * ''Le fonds des ressuscités'', mémoirs, first volume, 1956. * ''Voulez-vous être conseiller national?'', 1958. * ''Les balances faussées'', mémoirs, second volume, 1966. * ''La bibliothèque de Sauvives'', 1970. * ''L'âme de Genève'', Slatkine, Geneva, 1978. * ''œuvres maîtresses'', five volumes, Slatkine, Geneva, 1978.

Awards

Léon Savary won the Schiller Prize in 1960.

Bibliography

* Maurice Zermatten: ''Léon Savary à l’occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire.'' Bienne, 1965. * Charles Linsmayer: ''Literaturszene Schweiz. 157 Kurzportraits von

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

bis Gertrud Leutenegger''. Unionsverlag, Zürich, 1989, (P. 212 ss)

References

External links

Library of Congress authorities
* * 1895 births 1968 deaths People from Payerne Swiss writers in French University of Fribourg alumni Converts to Roman Catholicism Converts to Roman Catholicism from Protestantism 20th-century Swiss journalists {{Switzerland-writer-stub