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GENEVA YESTERDAYCalvin and Geneva: The Protestant ReformerOn 10 July 2009 the world will celebrate the 500 th anniversary of the birth of Jean Calvin (1509-64),the controversial and influential French protestant theologian and reformer.At almost fifty-five he died in Geneva on 27 May 1564 and was buried in the Plainpalais Cemetery,Rue des Rois. In the sixteenth century the cemetery was outside the city walls and used for commonburials where his actual burial spot is unidentified.Calvin and GenevaIn the middle of the sixteenth century reformers and reformed exiles of communities of manylanguages including French, Dutch, German, Italian and, especially, English gathered to pray and tofollow the teaching of the great names of the Reformation, Jean Calvin, John Knox and Théodore deBèze. Services are still held at the Calvin Auditory for members of the Church of Scotland and theDutch and Italian Reformed Churches.Jean Calvin established a college in Geneva to include the teaching of religion. In two sections, itsAcademy has since become the University of Geneva. He preached at Geneva’s Protestant Cathedralof St. Pierre. In its shadow stands the Jean Calvin Auditory where he lectured his reformed theology.A small chapel constructed on the site of other religious edifices, the Calvin Auditory is in the sober,even austere, Gothic style. Extensive renovation was completed in 1959.At the University of Geneva, the Reformation Wall is a city landmark. Work began in 1909 to mark the400 th anniversary of the birth of Jean Calvin and the 350 th of the foundation of the Academy ofGeneva. In Geneva’s Bastion Park the monument is backed against part of the ancient defensivewalls that surrounded the city until the middle of the nineteenth century.At the centre of the Wall, five meters high, are the four great figures of the movement: Guillaume Farel(1489-1565) one of the first to preach the Reformation in Geneva, Jean Calvin (1509-1564) the “pope”of the Reformers, Théodore de Bèze (1513-1605) first rector of the Academy, and John Knox (1513-1572) founder of Presbyterianism in Scotland 1/. Behind the statues stands the motto of theReformation and of Geneva “Post Tenebras Lux”… After darkness, there is light.On either side statues and bas-reliefs represent the great Protestant figures of the different Calvinistcountries and crucial moments in the development of the movement representing 150 years in thehistory of Protestantism. During the Reformation Geneva was called the ‘Protestant Rome’.Inaugurated in 2005, the award-winning International Museum of the Reformation is housed in ahistorical villa where the city’s citizens voted to adopt the Protestant Reformation in 1536. Using stateof-the-artand audio-visual displays it traces the turbulent history of the Protestant movement initiatedby John Calvin and its ideas to the present time. The Museum is holding a special exhibition in 2009 tomark the 500 th anniversary of Jean Calvin’s birth.A major international conference was held in Geneva from 24 to 27 May on the theme Calvin and hisInfluence 1509-2009. Itl attempted to take the full measure of Calvin’s influence across thegenerations, and around the world, from his lifetime to today, in the domains of theology, politics,culture and society. Members of Reformed churches and others participated.A special version of the 1599 Geneva Bible will be issued as well as a commemorative coin, and otherevents will be held to honour aspects of Jean Calvin’s life and work. A quotation by John Adams(1735-1826), second President of the United States, states … “Let not Geneva be forgotten ordespised. Religious liberty owes it most respect”.34