Alice Rivaz (14 August 1901 – 27 February 1998) was a Swiss writer and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Life

She was born Alice Golay in the small Swiss municipality of

Rovray Rovray is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Rovray is first mentioned around 1403–1409 as ''Roueraye''. Arrissoules is first mentioned in 1148 as ''Arresules''. On 1 January 200 ...

, in the Canton of

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 ...

, the only child of Paul Golay and Ida Ettler, both strong Calvinists. Her mother had been a

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a usually non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a limited ...

before deciding to leave that life to marry, while her father was a school teacher at the time of her birth. With a growing embrace of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, he later gave up that career and became a writer for the leftist periodical, '' Le Grutléen'', for which the family moved to

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

. Alice Rivaz' later writings are thought to reflect the conflict the couple experienced as a result of their differing points of view, with her mother's piety butting up against her father's political convictions. At the age of 25 Rivaz moved to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, where she spent the rest of her life. She originally studied music, training to become a pianist. After several years of work with the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

she turned to writing, and became one of the foremost

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

writers of Switzerland. She died in that city at the age of 96 and was buried at the prestigious

Cimetière des Rois The Cimetière des Rois (French: ''Cemetery of Kings'') (officially Cimetière de Plainpalais), is a cemetery in Geneva, Switzerland. The cemetery is commonly named after la ''rue des Rois'' (French: ''Kings' Street'') near which it is situated. ...

In her birthplace there is a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

. In Geneva a street and a College were named after her. And since 2002 there is even an

Intercity train Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

called Alice Rivaz.

Writing

Rivaz began working on her first novel around 1937, which came to be titled ''Nuages dans la main'' (''Clouds in your Hands''), published in 1940. Her novel ''Jette ton pain'' (''Cast your Bread''), published in 1979, is considered her finest work. Her writings are known for dealing with women in art and in the family, as well as having feminist themes. Along with novels, short stories, essays and diaries she also did a study of poet Jean-Georges Lossier.

Bibliography

* ''Nuages dans la main'' novel, (1940) trans. ''Clouds in your Hands'' * ''Comme le sable'', novel (1946) * ''La Paix des ruches'', novel (1947) trans. ''The Peace of the Beehive'' * ''Sans Alcool'' (1961), short stories, trans. ''Without Alcohol.'' * ''Comptez vos jours'' (1966) * ''Le Creux de la vague'', novel (1967) * ''L'Alphabet du matin'', novel (1968) * ''De Mémoire et d'oubli'', short stories (1973) * ''Jette ton pain'', novel (1979), trans. ''Cast your Bread'' * ''Ce Nom qui n'est pas le mien'', essays (1980) * ''Traces de vie'', diaries (1983) * ''Jean-Georges Lossier. Poésie et vie intérieure'', essay, 1986 * ''L’Homme et son enfant. Sans alcool. Le Canari'', short stories, 1996 * ''Creuser des puits dans le désert'' Letters to Jean-Claude Fontanet, 2001 * ''Les Enveloppes bleues. Correspondance 1944–51'' (with ), 2005 * ''Pourquoi serions-nous heureux? Correspondance 1945–1982'' (with Jean-Georges Lossier), 2008

References

External links

* * *
The filahome-stamps.com website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivaz, Alice 1998 deaths 1901 births People from Jura-North Vaudois District Swiss women novelists Feminist writers Burials at Cimetière des Rois 20th-century Swiss novelists 20th-century women writers Writers from Geneva