Gonzague de Reynold

Gonzague de Reynold was a writer and professor, who was a Patrician and right-wing intellectual and a keen opponent of liberalism. He grew up in a very wealthy home and studied at the Sorbonne. In 1910 he was appointed as a private lecturer to the University of Geneva and taught French Literature as a distinguished professor at the University of Bern between 1915-31 and from 1932 at the University of Freiburg taught the subject History of Civilisation.

De Reynold co-founded several society circles: in 1904 the newspaper La Voi latine, and in 1914 the Neue Helvetische Gesellschaft (New Helvetian Society), and in 1919 the Swiss initiative committee Pro Vorarlberg. In 1932 he became vice-president of the Commission for Mental Cooperation of the League of Nations. During WWII he pleaded for the change of Swiss Governance into an Authoritarian Republic.

De Reynold’s hate towards Communism and his fight against democracy led him to profess admiration for Fascist leaders like Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler but he did not follow their ideas. Although his work was restricted to Catholic circles his influence should not be underrated.