Edgar Bonjour was the father of Swiss history. He is known mainly by the multi-volume "History of Swiss neutrality" and the Bonjour report to the Federal Council.
Background
His life was devoted to the history of Swiss neutrality. After an initial article published in 1943 he developed the subject into a six-volume monumental work (1965-1970), with the last three volumes written on behalf of the Federal Council are known as the Bonjour report. Bonjour agreed to prepare it on condition that his report, whether published or not, would never be censored. To uphold his independence, he refused even to receive a compensation. Until 1976 three more volumes followed, which contained documents of the WW2 years, and in 1978 a summary of the multivolume work was published. Edgar Bonjour also wrote numerous articles on the subject of neutrality in the "Schweizer Monatshefte".
Education
French-speaking Bonjour grew up in Bern and had to attend a German-speaking school, except for a semester in Geneva. His teacher and scientific adviser was Richard Feller, and in 1923, Bonjour graduated with an essay "The peasant movement of 1525 in the State of Bern." After staying for some time in Paris and Berlin, he studied at Gymnasium Kirchenfeld in Bern.
He was then appointed deputy director of the Swiss Federal Archives, where he worked from 1933 to 1935. In 1935, he habilitated at the University of Bern with the essay "The antecedents of the Neuchâtel conflict".
Career
In 1935, Bonjour was appointed Full Professor of Swiss history and modern general history of the University of Basel. In 1946 he became rector of this university and held this position until his retirement in 1968 and even after that – in 1980 he was back to the lectures. Bonjour also read his lectures at the Adult high school and the University for Seniors, which were attended by many people. Bonjour worked till the last days of his life: his last lecture was held two weeks before his death in 1991.