Geneva, or the emergence of new ideas

Age of Enlightenment

Rousseau and Voltaire, two of the leading philosophers of the Enlightenment, both spent a large period of their lives in Geneva. The writings of the former, “The Confessions of J.J. Rousseau, Citizen of Geneva”, inspired the French Revolution. The latter maintained an epistolary relationship with the other leading thinkers of the era.

Cradle of liberalism

Welcoming the burgeoning scientific spirit, 18th-century Geneva became a fertile breeding ground for men of science, philosophers, naturalists, physicists and mathematicians. Liberal ideas radiated throughout Europe from Coppet Castle, the home of Jacques Necker and his daughter Germaine de Staël, embodying the opposition to the regime of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Great thinkers

Throughout the next two centuries, numerous personalities would perpetuate the intellectual whirlpool that characterises the city.

• The creation of the Red Cross