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Henri Fazy

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"HENRI FAZY (1842-1920), Swiss statesman and historian, was a member of a family which at the date of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) came from Dauphine to Geneva to seek protection for religious reasons. Its most prominent member was his great-uncle, the Radical statesman, James Fazy ( see 11.591), whose biography (1887) was written by him. He was born at Berne on Jan. 31 1842. He studied at Geneva for his doctorate in philosophy and law, became a member of the Genevese cantonal parliament in 1868, and was member of the cantonal executive from 1897 till his death. He was a Radical in politics, but of a more moderate type than his great-uncle, and founded a Radical " group," opposed to the more extreme section. Carteret, the successor of James Fazy as leader of the latter, died in 1889, and henceforward Henri Fazy played a more and more prominent part in Radical Genevese politics. As a member of the cantonal executive he had charge of the Department of Finances, and was much criticised by Gustave Ador, the leader of the Democrats or Whigs. In 1880 his proposal to separate Church and State in Geneva was rejected by the people, but was finally accepted by them in 1907. He was a member of the Swiss Conseil National from 1896 to 1899, and from 1902 onwards. After the Radical defeat of 1918 he was the only member of his party who was not turned out of office, but he became more and more conservative as time went on. In 1914, as the senior member of the Swiss Conseil National, he protested solemnly against the violation of the neutrality of Belgium.

For many years he was the archivist of Geneva, and also professor of Swiss history at the university of Geneva (1896-9 and from 1902). In the latter capacity he wrote much on Genevese history. In 1887 appeared the Life of James Fazy, in 1890 the Constitutions de Geneve, in 1891 L' Alliance de 1584 entre Berne, Zurich et Geneve, in 1895 Les Suisses et la Neutralite de Savoie, in 1897 La Guerre du Pays de Gex et l'Occupation genevoise, 1589-1601, in 1902 Histoire de Geneve el l'Epoque de l'Escalade, 1589 -1601, in 1909 Geneve et Charles Emmanuel and countless papers in the Proceedings of the Institut National Genevois. He died at Geneva Dec. 22 1920.