Frances Williams on Calvin

Financial Times: Calvin and the work ethic key to modern Geneva’s destiny

Many ordinary Genevans do not see much to celebrate.

The legacy of the French theologian, they say, is a city that even today is passionless, moralistic and dull, where it is forbidden to make a noise after 10pm and restaurant kitchens close at 9pm on the dot...

Andrew Stallybrass, a lay preacher in Geneva who works for a foundation promoting inter-cultural dialogue, sums up Calvin’s economic philosophy as: “Money is a good thing but don’t flaunt it. Invest it for the public good and don’t screw the poor.”...

Though he enforced strict moral rules, including bans on swearing, gambling, fornication and even dancing, the same snooper system for reporting transgressors was also used to help the poor and sick. “It worked as a social service for the city,” Ms Graesslé says. Calvin also pioneered universal education, including for girls, so all would find meaning in the Bible, and founded what later became Geneva University.