Twenty-nine emblematic places to discover in six walks: this is the proposal of the collective work “Albert Cohen and Geneva”, a literary guide co-written, among others, by Thierry Maurice, scientific collaborator at the Maison de l’histoire and Marie-Luce Desgrandchamps, lecturer at the Department of General History (Faculty of Letters).
Born in Corfu, Albert Cohen (1895-1981) lived in Geneva for nearly fifty years, establishing ambivalent bonds of affection. He found refuge in this cosmopolitan city in a neutral country on the eve of the First World War, completed university studies there, affirmed his Jewishness and committed himself to Zionism, married three times, obtained Swiss nationality, became a man letters, composed most of his works, worked in international organizations, treated failing health, died and, finally, was buried in the Jewish cemetery of Veyrier. The town at the end of the lake constitutes not only the place of production, but also one of the backdrops for most of the novelist’s writings. However, no trace of Albert Cohen appears in Geneva’s public space, with the exception of a modest street that bears his name.
To remedy this, the work draws up a map of 29 places of interest broken down into as many notes which question the biographical and literary inscription of Albert Cohen in the City of Calvin, international organizations in Cologny, via La Vieille -City, the English Garden or the Bastions Park.
Read also “Albert Cohen’s Geneva” (Le Journal, November 25, 2021)
By Pierre-Louis Chantre, Marie-Luce Desgrandchamps, Idit Ezrati Lintz, Thierry Maurice, Bruno Racalbuto, Noémie Sakkal Miville, Yan Schubert
“Albert Cohen and Geneva”
Editions La Baconnière 2024
200 p.
