Léon Savary ( Fleurier, 1895 – Boudry, 1968) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

French-speaking writer and journalist from Payerne,

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

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

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, and correspondent in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

(1935–1946) and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1946–1956). He was Historian of the city of his own choice Fribourg.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 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 Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, 1949), he denounced "the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

influence of hitlerism on

Swiss people The Swiss people (, , , ) are the citizens of the multi-ethnic Swiss Confederation (Switzerland) regardless of ethno-cultural background or people of self-identified Swiss ancestry. The number of Swiss nationals has grown from 1.7 million in ...

during the

second world war World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 (; ; ) is a town in Switzerland in the Vaud, canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Leman, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the Vevey (district), district of the same name until 200 ...

and Bulle.

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

References

External links

Library of Congress authorities
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Savary, Leon 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