BESSON, MARIUS. — Historian and writer, bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, born in Turin on 28 June 1876, but originally from Chapelle-sur-Moudon (canton of Vaud, Switzerland), died in Fribourg on 24 February 1945. Ordained a priest on 23 July 1899, he was professor of history at the Collège St-Michel (1907), of ecclesiastical history, patristics and sacred eloquence at the seminary (1907–20), of medieval history at the University of Fribourg (1908–20), first parish priest of St-Rédempteur in Lausanne (1916–19), and rector of the seminary (1919–20); he was elected bishop on 5 May 1920. A zealous pastor, possessing a broad and solid theological and historical-critical culture, he exercised considerable influence in his diocese, in the political circles of the canton and in the international circles of the League of Nations at Geneva, in international cultural, Catholic Action and charitable-assistance organizations, and in Protestant circles, where he was known for his eminently conciliatory spirit. His special attachment to the Holy See was known to all. Mons. B. is regarded as one of the most brilliant representatives of the contemporary Catholic episcopate.
Besides his pastoral letters and several speeches, which constitute a valuable collection of 11 volumes, he left a long series of publications and articles, both of a strictly scholarly nature and intended for advanced popularization. Among the former, the following should be recalled: Recherches sur les origines des évêchés de Genève, Lausanne et Sion et leurs premiers titulaires jusqu'au déclin du VIᵉ siècle (Fribourg 1906); Contribution à l'histoire du diocèse de Lausanne sous la domination franque, 534-888 (ibid. 1908); L'art barbare dans l'ancien diocèse de Lausanne (Lausanne 1909); Antiquités du Valais, Vᵉ-Xᵉ siècle (Fribourg 1910); Monasterium Acaunense. Etude critique sur les origines de l'abbaye de St-Maurice en Valais (ibid. 1913); L'Eglise et l'imprimerie dans les anciens diocèses de Lausanne et de Genève jusqu'en 1525 (2 vols., Geneva 1937–38). He was also an active contributor to the Revue d'hist. ecclés. suisse and founder of the Revue Charlemagne (Paris 1911), whose purpose was to elucidate the Carolingian period.
Among his works of popularization, special mention should be made of: Nos origines chrétiennes (Fribourg 1921, 2nd ed. Geneva 1940); L'Eglise et la Bible (ibid. 1927); Saint Pierre et les origines de la primauté romaine (ibid. 1929); La Sainte Vierge (ibid. 1942). His efforts to find a way of understanding between Catholics and Protestants are documented by two volumes that attracted considerable attention: La route aplanie (1930, 11 editions, translated into Italian [Brescia 1932], German and Dutch) and Après Quatre Cents Ans (1933, 4 editions, translated into German). He contributed to the founding of the weekly L'Echo vaudois, of which he was director (1910–19), the Swiss Catholic journal Nova et Vetera (1926), the weekly L'Echo illustré (1929), etc. Mons. B. regarded the Catholic press as a powerful weapon of the apostolate, and for this reason promoted its diffusion in every possible way. In all his writings he sought to be consistently precise and clear in the exposition of doctrine and in historical information, and meticulous in literary form and typographical presentation, which he always wished to be artistic.