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 Boudry a municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. History Boudry is first mentioned in 1278 as ''Baudri''. There are numerous prehistoric settlements around Boudry. These include the neolithic stilt houses on the banks of ...

, 1968) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

French-speaking writer and journalist from

Payerne Payerne (; frp, Payèrna) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the district of Payerne, and is now part of the district of Broye-Vully. The German name ''Peterlingen'' for the town is out of use. History The earl ...

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 Canisius ...

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

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 ...

, and correspondent in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

(1935-1946) and

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(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 () () o ...

.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 Gonzague de Reynold (15 June 1880 – 9 April 1970) was a Swiss writer, historian, and right-wing political activist. Over the course of his six-decade career, he wrote more than thirty books outlining his traditionalist Catholic and Swiss natio ...

, 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 Polit ...

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 ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, 1949), he denounced ''"the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

influence of

hitlerism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

Swiss people The Swiss people (german: die Schweizer, french: les Suisses, it, gli Svizzeri, rm, ils Svizzers) are the citizens of Switzerland or people of Swiss abroad, Swiss ancestry. The number of Swiss nationality law, Swiss nationals has grown from ...

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 opposin ...

, 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 The Schiller Prize was a Swiss literary award which was established in 1905 to promote Swiss literature and was awarded until 2012 when it was replaced as a national literary award by the Swiss Literature Awards. The prize was awarded by the Sc ...

in 1960.

Bibliography

Maurice Zermatten Maurice Zermatten (22 October 1910, in Saint-Martin, Valais – 11 February 2001, in Sion) was a French-speaking Swiss writer. He was born in Saint-Martin, Valais, a small village situated in the Val d'Hérens, in the canton of Valais. He was fir ...

: ''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