Henri Evard Photo courtesy of Claude Villeneuve.

Evard, Henri (1898–1983)

CLAUDE VILLENEUVE

Claude Villeneuve, Ed.D. (Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michingan, the United States). Now retired, Villeneuve has been teacher and school principal in North Africa, Madagascar, and Cameroun. Villeneuve was the superintendent of education for the West Central African Union and officially confirmed by a state ministerial decree. He was also the president of the French Adventist University and chaired various academic departments. He received the Seventh-day Adventist Award of Excellence in Education from the General Conference.

Henri Evard was a pastor and educator from Switzerland. Evard contributed to maintaining the seminary in France during the difficult years of World War II and the implementation and development of education in Mauritius. Early Years Henri Evard was born in into a Protestant family in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, on June 18, 1898.1 He was baptized at the age of 17. He completed his secondary school in 1920 and received a degree in science in 1925. At the same time, he pursued a two-year pastoral training course at the missionary school which was located at Gland. He was then employed from 1917 to 1919 as an assistant in the Léman Conference at Saint-Imier, in Switzerland.2 The next year he was hired as a dormitory dean and teacher in the same school. The school moved to France in 1921 to Collonges-sous-Salève and was renamed Séminaire Adventiste du Salève.3 Education Evard spent 24 years of his life in the Salève Adventist Seminary at Collonges until 1945. During these years Henri had various roles. He taught mathematics and physics; served as dormitory dean; was secretary of the Department of Education for the Léman Conference, and finally was director/principal of the school.4 He occupied this position two different times. First, from 1930 to 1935, succeeding A. Roth;5 then, after eight years of teaching, he was called again to serve as the school’s principal in 1942 when Daniel Walter retired.6 He held this position until 1945.7 Those years were particularly difficult because of the war. While teaching, Henri started working on a PhD in Science8 in Geneva, which he completed in 1928. Although it was uncommon for Adventists to study science at the university level at all, Evard does not seem to have considered this career a problem in view of his theological, and particularly creationist, convictions. In fact, Dr. Evard was a loyal SDA teacher and, as such, he definitely taught creationism. The question was not really an open debate at that time within the Southern European Division.9 Marriage During his doctoral studies he met Jeanne Gilles, who was working as pastoral assistant in the same institution. They married December 28, 1925. The couple gave birth to three boys: René, Jean Paul, and Michel, and a girl, Christiane. Two of the children later played a role in the development of the denomination: René became professor of chemistry at Loma Linda University while Christiane married Gérard Poublan, a pastor in France.10 Ordination Evard’s high level of education did not overshadow his dedication to the gospel ministry. After World War II, he was called again to Switzerland to serve as the Sabbath School director for the Léman Conference. At the same time, he pastored the Lausanne Church. Henri was ordained as a minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on July 3, 1948, at Lausanne.11 This ordination ushered in a new period in the lives of the Evards. Henri and Jeanne were called to serve in the mission field.12 They sailed to Mauritius Island in July 1948. In Mauritius, Dr Evard played a significant role in the educational development of the Adventist Church. He facilitated the opening of a secondary school, the Phoenix Adventist College which was significant for the education of the youth.13 In addition, a Bible training school launched in 1949 contributed greatly to the development of the denomination in Mauritius and later in the Indian Ocean.14 Later Years In 1953 the family returned to Europe. Henri again pastored the Lausanne Church for a short time before he was called to be an editor of the Revue Adventiste at the publishing House in Dammaries-les-Lys, France. But in 1957, two years later, the couple left the publishing house to go back to Mauritius, leaving behind their now grown children.15 Henri directed the Mauritius Mission as president while supervising the Adventist college until 1962,16 when, for health reasons, he had to permanently return to France.17 Settling down in France contributed to writing a book full of details and historical references about their experience in Mauritius.18 It is important to note that the social and cultural situation of the Mauritius Island at that time was quite unique. It had three or four socio-cultural groups intertwined together. These groups were very different from each other in ethnic origin, religion, and social conditions. Dr. Evard and his wife answered calls to go to this mission field without preconceived expectations. They served, taught, preached, and loved the people they were working with. Despite the complex issues, he adjusted his cultural bias and attitudes to the country he lived in. This was quite typical of Adventist missionary approaches of that time. Retirement Even after settling down in France, Henri continued to work. For a year he taught physics and chemistry on a part- time basis at Séminaire Adventiste du Salève.19 Even when Evard officially retired, the couple remained in the Collonges area for 14 years as active retirees. They moved to Switzerland in 1977, where Henri pastored the Church of Yverdon until he passed away from a stroke on June 2 1983. He was buried in Gland.20 His wife Jeanne survived him until December 18, 1990, when she died at Le Flon Retirement Home at Oron la Ville. Contribution Dr. Evard’s objectivity in his narrative of his Mauritius experience demonstrates his scientific mind paired with professional dedication to education. He contributed to maintaining the seminary in France during the difficult years of World War II and the implementation and development of education in Mauritius.

SOURCES All the documents are in the Alfred Vaucher Library, the Library of the French Adventist University located in Collonges-sous-Salève, 74160 France. Books Breejan, Burrun. 1914-2014: 100 ans de l’Eglise Adventiste à Maurice Vol 1. LTEE Rose Hill, Île Maurice: Print Cube Printing, ND. Evard, Henri. Contribution à l'étude des ferments oxydants. PhD diss., Université de Genève-Institut de Botanique, 1928. Evard, Henri. Des années bien pleines: souvenirs d'un missionnaire à l'Île Maurice. Yverdon, Switzerland: Archives Campus Adventiste du Salève, 1979. Magazine/Journal Articles Evard, Henri. “Île Maurice.” Revue Adventiste. May 1949. “Feuilles au vent.” Revue Adventiste. March 15, 1957. Olson, Albert Victor. Extraits du procès-verbal du Comité de l'Union Latine. Le Messager, organe semi mensuel de l'Union des Eglises Adventistes de l'Union Latine. July 1921. Poublan, Gérard. “In Memoriam: Henri Evard, 1898-1983.” Revue Adventiste. September 1983. Archival Manuscripts/Documents Copies of typed documents written by Evard Henri as a school director. 1931-1935, 1943-1945. Archives Campus Adventiste du Salève. Collection Gérard Poublan. Box 16 CP 05, Folder 5. Report on the 1931-1932 school year presented to the Board of Trustee of the Séminaire Adventiste du Salève. Letter from the School Director to be read to the churches on August 22 or 29, 1931. School Director Speech at the beginning the school year on September 7, 1932. Report presented by the School Director to the Board of Trustees on October 27, 1932. Report presented by the School Director to the Board of Trustees in December 1933. School Director Commencement address to the Assembly in May 1935. School Director Commencement address to the Assembly, 1943. School Director Commencement address to the Assembly, 1944. School Director Commencement address to the Assembly, 1945. Liste du personnel. Bulletins du Séminaire Adventiste du Salève Années 1932-1935, 1942-1945, 1962-1963. Archives Campus Adventiste du Salève. Box 46VA3. Record Services Information for the Calculation of Retirement Allowance: Henri Evard. Euro-Africa Division of the Seventh-day Adventists Archives. Bern, Switzerland, May 30, 1963. NOTES 1. Henri Evard, “Record Services Information for the Calculation of Retirement Allowance,” Euro-Africa Division of Seventh-day Adventists, Bern, Switzerland, May 30, 1963. Data form filled out and signed by the applicant.? 2. Gérard Poublan, “In Memoriam Henri Evard 1898-1983,” Revue Adventiste, Dammarie-les-Lys, September 1983, 15.? 3. Albert Victor Olson “Extraits du procès-verbal du Comité de l’Union Latine,” Le Messager, organe semi mensuel de l'Union des Eglises Adventistes de l’Union Latine, July 1921, 178-179.? 4. Archives Campus Adventiste du Salève, Bulletins du Séminaire Adventiste du Salève Années 1932, 1933, 5. 1934, 1935, liste du personnel, box 46VA3.? 6. Archives Campus Adventiste du Salève, “Henri Evard,” copies of original documents written as School Director, 1931-1935, collection by Gérard Poublan in Box 16 CP 05, Folder 5. - Report on the 1931-1932 school year presented to the Board of Trustees of the Séminaire Adventiste du Salève. -Letter from the school director to be read to the churches on August 22 or 29, 1931. - School Director Speech at the beginning the school year on September 7, 1932. - Report presented by the School Director to the Board of Trustees on October 27, 1932. - Report presented by the School Director to the Board of Trustees on December 1933. - School Director Commencement address to the Assembly on May 1935.? 7. Archives Campus Adventiste du Salève, “Henri Evard,” copies of original documents written as a School Director, 1931-1935, collection by Gérard Poublan in Box 16 CP 05, Folder 5.- School Director Speech atthe beginning of the school year, 1942. - School Director Commencement address to the Assembly, 1943. - School Director Commencement address to the Assembly, 1944. - School Director Commencement address to the Assembly, 1945.? 8. Archives Campus Adventiste du Salève, Bulletins du Séminaire Adventiste du Salève, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, liste du personnel, box 46VA3.? 9. Henri Evard, Contribution à l’étude des ferments oxydants, thèse présentée en vue de l’obtention du titre de docteur sous la direction du Dr R. Chodat, enregistrée sous le N° 844 (Geneva: Université de Genève-Institut de Botanique, 1928).? 10. I found no controversial article written by him on this topic.? 11. Ibid. 2.? 12. Henri Evard, “Île Maurice,” Revue Adventiste, Dammarie-les-Lys, May 1949, 7-8.? 13. Ibid.? 14. Burrun Breejan. 1914-2014: 100 ans de l’Eglise Adventiste à Maurice Vol 1 (Print Cube Printing LTEE Rose Hill, Île Maurice, no date), 182-184? 15. Ibid., 194, 195.? 16. “Feuilles au vent,” Revue Adventiste, Dammarie-les-Lys, March 15, 1957, 16.? 17. Breejan. 1914-2014: 100 ans de l'Eglise Adventiste, 185.? 18. Poublan, “In Memoriam Henri Evard 1898-1983,” 15.? 19. Henri Evard, Des années bien pleines: souvenirs d'un missionnaire à l'Île Maurice (Yverdon, Switzerland: Archives Campus Adventiste du Salève, 1979).? 20. Bulletin du Séminaire Adventiste du Salève, 1962-1963, 6.? 21. Poublan, “In Memoriam Henri Evard 1898-1983,” 15.?

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