Hélène Rivier
Hélène Rivier (born May 25, 1902 in Pruntrut , † February 11, 1986 Geneva ) was a Swiss librarian .
Life
Hélène Rivier grew up in a large parish family in the Swiss Jura as the daughter of an English mother. She was one of the first to graduate from the librarianship school in Geneva ( Ecole de bibliothécaires ) and graduated from it in 1928.
As a library assistant, she first worked at the League of Nations . Inspired by the English model, in 1931 she founded the Bibliothèque moderne in Geneva, Switzerland's first public open access library with free lending. From 1941 to 1966 she headed the Geneva Bibliothèque municipale (city library). In 1962, Switzerland's first library bus ran in Geneva . Rivier's strongest commitment was to the reading offer to children, to sick people in hospitals and to prisoners whom she visited personally in St. Antoine prison. Not infrequently she had to assert herself against the lack of understanding of the authorities and parties.
Franz Georg Maier, former director of the Swiss National Library, described Hélène Rivier in 2002 as "probably the most important librarian in Switzerland" and as the "founder of modern general public librarianship in Switzerland."
Physically and mentally weakened by a robbery in old age, she died on February 11, 1986 in a Geneva hospital.
Hélène Rivier was a great niece of Alphonse Rivier and his brother Louis Rivier.
Works
- Catalog des oeuvres de Théodore de Bèze et de Jean Calvin qui se trouvent au Musée historique de la Réformation à Genève , Genève: Musée historique de la Réformation, 1928
- Les Bibliothèques municipales de Genève mettent en service un Bibliobus urbain , in: Nouvelles / Association des Bibliothécaires Suisses, Association Suisse de Documentation, 38/2 (1962), Online: pdf , html
- Les bibliothèques municipales de Genève, discours prononcé par Hélène Rivier le 2 November 1967 à la réception d'adieu de l'Hôtel Métropole , Genève: 1967
Web links
- Etienne Burgy: Rivier, Hélène. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Franz Georg Maier: Hélène Rivier (1902–1986) , in: Arbido, 2002, p. 28 ( pdf )
- Publications by Hélène Rivier in the Swissbib meta catalog
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rivier, Hélène |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss librarian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 25, 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pruntrut |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 11, 1986 |
| Place of death | Geneva |