Denis de Rougemont

Denis de Rougemont (September 8, 1906 in Couvet December 6, 1985 in Geneva) was a Swiss writer, cultural theorist, and European federalist, who wrote in French.

Life

He studied at the University of Neuchâtel and in Vienna, and then moved to Paris in 1930. There he wrote for and edited various publications, associating with the personalist groupings and the non-conformists of the 1930s: with Emmanuel Mounier and Arnaud Dandieu, he founded the magazines Esprit and L'Ordre Nouveau, and he also founded a magazine on existential theology, Hic et Nunc.[1]

In June 1940, fearing that defeatism and the pressure of Nazi propaganda (and armies) would lead the federal government to submit to the Germans and give up the traditional democratic values of Switzerland, he led with Zurich University Professor Theophil Spoerri a group of young people which created a civil society organisation called the Gotthard League in order to defend both Christian values and the independence of Switzerland. De Rougemont wrote the movement's manifesto and on 22 July an “Appeal to the Swiss People” which was widely published in the Swiss press to rally support for the movement.[2]

Later in 1940, after having authored a sharp column in a Swiss newspaper which infuriated the German government, he was sent to the United States and administered French broadcasting for the Voice of America. He likewise taught at the École Libre des Hautes Études in New York before returning to Europe in 1946.[3]

He founded in Geneva the "Centre Européen de la Culture" in 1950[4] and in 1963[5] the "Institut Universitaire d'Etudes Européennes" (IUEE, "Graduate Institute of European Studies", attached to the University of Geneva). He was president of the Paris-based Congrès pour la Liberté de la Culture.[6] Probably his most influential work is Love in the Western World (1939, 1956, 1972; English translations 1940, 1956, 1982).

The 1989–1990 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour.

Works

See also

References

  1. Denis de Rougemont (1956/1966), Love in the Western World, trans., Montgomery Belgion, revised edition, reprint, New York: Fawcett, p. [i].
  2. Christian Ackermann, Denis de Rougemont : une biographie intellectuelle, Labor et Fides, 1996, 1284 pages, ISBN 9782830908022, p. 652
  3. Denis de Rougemont (1956/1966), Love in the Western World, trans., Montgomery Belgion, revised edition, reprint, New York: Fawcett, p. [i].
  4. CEC site
  5. European Institute site
  6. Denis de Rougemont (1956/1966), Love in the Western World, trans., Montgomery Belgion, revised edition, reprint, New York: Fawcett, p. [i].

Bibliography

External links

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