Jean SAUNIER
See onthe map
Writer, esotericist, tax inspector, Freemason.
A tax inspector and CFDT union delegate, he devoted his other life to esotericism: initiated in 1960 at the age of twenty-one, founder of a study lodge, an authority on synarchy and on Saint-Yves d'Alveydre. He published under the pen names Ostabat and Emmanuel Deguilhaume.
The story
A tax inspector and CFDT union delegate by trade, Jean Saunier, born in Lyon in 1939, gave his other life to esotericism and to writing.
He became a recognised authority on Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre and on synarchy, the esoteric political doctrine whose history he set out in La Synarchie (1971) and then Saint-Yves d'Alveydre ou une synarchie sans énigme (1981).
He also published under the pen-names Ostabat and Emmanuel Deguilhaume. He died in 1992.
The grave
“Jean SAUNIER, writer and trade unionist, 1939-1992”: the inscription on the avenue Transversale No. 3 goes no further. It leaves outside the tax inspector, the freemason initiated on 16 December 1960, the worshipful master of the study lodges he founded, and the pen names Ostabat and Emmanuel Deguilhaume under which he published on synarchy — the doctrine of Saint-Yves d'Alveydre, which would have handed government to councils of the competent rather than to the vote.
On site, do not miss
The epitaph fits in five words and two dates: “Jean SAUNIER, writer and trade unionist, 1939-1992”. Neither the esotericism, nor the pen names, nor the lodges appear on it.
Visitors' questions
Where is Jean Saunier's grave at Père-Lachaise?
In Division 92, Transverse Avenue No. 3, ninth row. The inscription is brief and mentions only two of his pursuits. Division 92 is also home to the recumbent effigy of Victor Noir.
Victor NOIRWho was Jean Saunier?
A tax inspector who led a second life as a writer on esotericism. Born in Lyon in 1939, a CFDT union delegate in the 1970s, he devoted his other life to the study of initiatory societies and became a leading authority on synarchy.
Oscar WILDEWhat is synarchy, the subject Jean Saunier studied?
An esoteric and political doctrine formulated in the nineteenth century by Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre, which proposed entrusting government to councils of experts rather than to the ballot box. Jean Saunier illuminated its history in two books that became standard references.
Honoré de BALZACWhat does Jean Saunier's gravestone say?
“Jean SAUNIER, writer and trade unionist, 1939-1992.” Five words and two dates. Neither the esotericism, nor the pen names, nor the Masonic lodges he founded or led appear on the stone.
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