The Swiss sociologist and ethnologist Bernard Crettaz, who died on Monday aged 84, was close to death long before it caught up with him. For about ten years, until 2014, he hosted the “Cafés mortels”, meetings in cafés to talk about death.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/ts
Español
es
Muere el “sociólogo de la muerte”, Bernard Crettaz
“By talking about death and dying all the time, you prepare yourself a little for your own death, which means you’re not terrified of it. It’s perhaps a way of facing it, as in the past we dared to look it in the face,” he told Swiss public radio, RTS. He added that “death will always remain a taboo […], a fundamental enigma.”
Well into his eighties, Crettaz continued to write and to reflect on death, his favourite subject.
The Covid-19 pandemic was an important topic of reflection for him. “We had marginalised death, but with this epidemic that has come upon us […] we see that death is here, that it is striking again,” he told Le NouvellisteExternal linknewspapertwo years ago. He spoke of death as “a lesson in life”.
More
Death
Switzerland has one of the highest life expectancies in the world. It is also one of the most progressive countries when it comes to assisted suicide.
In 1979, at the age of 41, Crettaz obtained a doctorate in sociology from the University of Geneva, where he was a lecturer. In 1976 he was appointed curator of the Europe Department of the Museum of Ethnography in Geneva.
With his wife, the anthropologist Yvonne Preiswerk, who died in 1999, he founded a society for studying funeral rites and customs. He officially retired in 2000, at the age of 62, to return to Val d’Anniviers in canton Valais, where he was born, and devote himself to writing. He was also the official ethnologist for Expo.02.
In 2004, on Swiss National Day, Crettaz, playing the role of Swiss hero William Tell, gave SWI swissinfo.ch an exclusive interview in which he discussed among other things his (Tell’s) disappointment with contemporary Swiss politicians:
More
More
National hero turns his back on Switzerland
This content was published on
William Tell talks about the years during which he slipped out of the history books and shares his views of Switzerland today. Tell made his mark on history in 1307, when he was famously forced to shoot an apple off his son’s head. It is early morning when the legendary Swiss hero greets us in…
Macron will attend Swiss summit on Ukraine, says Zelensky
This content was published on
French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the peace conference on Ukraine at the Swiss Bürgenstock resort next month, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
Top politician tells ‘corrupt’ Eurovision to stay away from Bern
This content was published on
A social media post by the president of Bern’s cantonal government critical of the Eurovision Song Contest has created waves and will be discussed in the cantonal parliament.
Swiss centre records over 200 victims of human trafficking
This content was published on
Last year 317 people took part in a protection programme run by the Specialist Unit for Trafficking in Women and Women’s Migration (FIZ) in German-speaking Switzerland.
This content was published on
The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and partners are opening a field hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Lack of smartphone sustainability in Switzerland hits environment
This content was published on
Almost half of all Swiss citizens hang on to their old smartphones, tablets and laptops, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Police clear out pro-Palestinian students protesting in Geneva
This content was published on
The police intervened early on Tuesday to dislodge pro-Palestinian students who had been occupying the University of Geneva for almost a week.
New gel developed in Zurich renders alcohol harmless
This content was published on
A newly developed gel composed of whey proteins breaks down alcohol in the body and could reduce its harmful and intoxicating effects in humans.
Pro-Palestine protests extend to Basel and Fribourg universities
This content was published on
Demonstrators called for an academic boycott of all Israeli institutions and disassociation with Chaim Weizmann, the first Israeli president.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.