Herbert Lüthy (1918-2002) was a Swiss historian and journalist. His book ''France Against Herself'', published in the mid-1950s, criticized French

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

alism.

Life

Born in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, Herbert Lüthy attended school in

Glarus , neighboring_municipalities= Glarus Nord, Glarus Süd, Muotathal (SZ), Innerthal (SZ) , twintowns= Wiesbaden-Biebrich (Germany) } Glarus (; gsw, Glaris; french: Glaris; it, Glarona; rm, Glaruna) is the capital of the canton of Glarus ...

and

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

. He then studied at the universities of

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 ...

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

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

, gaining a PhD in history in 1942. He became a journalist, writing for the ''St. Galler Tagblatt'' during

World War II 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 opposing ...

. From 1946 to 1958 he lived in

, writing for

Melvin J. Lasky Melvin Jonah Lasky (15 January 1920 – 19 May 2004) was an American journalist, intellectual, and member of the anti-Communist left. He founded the German journal '' Der Monat'' in 1948 and, from 1958 to 1991, edited ''Encounter'', one of many ...

's magazine '' Der Monat''. He also wrote for ''

Encounter Encounter or Encounters may refer to: Film *''Encounter'', a 1997 Indian film by Nimmala Shankar * ''Encounter'' (2013 film), a Bengali film * ''Encounter'' (2018 film), an American sci-fi film * ''Encounter'' (2021 film), a British sci-fi film * ...

''. In 1958 he became Professor of Education and History at ETH Zurich. In 1971 he moved to the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

, retiring for health reasons in 1980. He died in Basel in 2002. Urs Bitterli
Herbert Lüthy: Kurzbiographie

Works

;Books * (tr. into

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

) ''Essais'' by Michel de Montaigne, Zurich:

Manesse Verlag The Manesse Verlag is a German publishing house for classical literature, founded in 1944 in Zürich in Switzerland. It belongs today to Random House publishing group based in Munich. The publishing house is mainly known for its library of world ...

, 1953 * ''Frankreichs Uhren Gehen Anders'' (French clocks tick differently), Zürich: Europa Verlag, 1954. Translated by Eric Mosbacher as ''France against herself : a perceptive study of France's past, her politics, and her unending crises.'', New York: Praeger, 1955; published in England as ''The state of France; a study of contemporary France'', London: Secker & Warburg, 1955 * ''La Banque Protestante en France, de la Revocation de l'Edit de Nantes à la Révolution'', Paris: S.E.V.P.E.N, 2 vols, 1959-1961 * ''Nach dem Untergang des Abendlandes; zeitkritische Essays'' * '' Le passé présent: combats d'idées de Calvin à Rousseau'', Monaco: Éditions du Rocher, 1965. Translated by

Salvator Attanasio Salvator Attanasio (September 9, 1913 – June 3, 1993) was an American literary translator, who translated over 200 works of literature, history and philosophy.Salvator Attanasio, 79, A Literary Translator, ''New York Times'', 9 June 1993. Attana ...

as ''From Calvin to Rousseau; tradition and modernity in socio-political thought from the Reformation to the French Revolution'', 1970 * ''In Gegenwart der Geschichte. Historische Essays'', 1967 * ''Fahndung nach dem Dichter Bertolt Brecht'', 1972 ;Articles * "Die Vierte Republik" (The Fourth Republic), ''Der Monat'' 10 (July 1949), pp. 39–48

References

1918 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Swiss historians Swiss male writers 20th-century male writers Academic staff of ETH Zurich 20th-century Swiss journalists {{Switzerland-journalist-stub