Freemasonry and the Enlightenment

Recently a one-day colloquium on Masonic networks in the world of the Enlightenment took place at Les Salle des Actes, Sorbonne University, Paris, organised by Professor Cécile Revauger of Bordeaux University III and Professor Charles Porset of the CNRS (Centre National de la Researche Scientifique), Paris.
     During the day, delegates heard several presentations delivered by specialist researchers on Freemasonry during the eighteenth century.
     There were introductory talks by Professors Charles Porset and Sylvain Menant, Director of CELLF, of the University of Sorbonne, Paris IV. A paper was given by Professor Pierre Yves-Beaurepaire of the University of Nice-Sophia on The networks of masonic correspondence in the Enlightenment.
     Dr. Petri Mirala of the University of Helsinki, Finland, then presented a paper entitled Irish masons, conservatism and radicalism. This was, in essence, a distillation of his recently published study, Freemasonry in Ulster, 1733-1813, a social and political history of the masonic brotherhood in the north of Ireland, published last year in Dublin by the Four Courts Press (see review in this issue).
     Professor Jean Mondot of the University Michel Montaigne, Bordeaux, spoke on German networks of the Illuminati, Professor Antonio Trempus of the University of Venice on Jesuits and Freemasons in the Habsburg regime, and Professors Jean-Marie Mercier and Thierry Zarcone of the CNRS, on the birth, rise and fall of an extensive network of masonic correspondence in eighteenth-century Avignon.
     There followed a general discussion and a short presentation by Professors Revauger and Porset on a major forthcoming study – a biographical dictionary project of Freemasons in the long eighteenth century.
     The study, titled Le Monde maçonnique des Lumières, will include hundreds of entries provided by dozens of academics from all around the world on personalities ranging from Dr. James Anderson of the Constitutions, to the French philosopher and novelist, Voltaire, and is due to be published this year by the French publisher Campion.

Crewe Professor for Dutch Chair

The Chair of Freemasonry at the Faculty of Religious Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands has acquired a new Professor – Dr Malcolm Davies, 55, a cultural historian, musicologist and conductor, who came originally from Crewe.
     From September, Professor Davies, who is also head of the Faculty of Arts and conductor of the International Youth Choir (HIYC) at the International School in The Hague, will spend one day a week teaching Freemasonry and related cultural themes.
     In 2003 he earned his Ph. D on music, musicians and songs associated with Dutch Freemasonry in the eighteenth-century from the University of Utrecht.
     Professor Davies will deliver his inaugural lecture on 25 November, and on 28 and 29 November he is also organising a symposium entitled The Expression of Freemasonry: Its ritual, oratory, poetry, music, literature, art and architecture.
     To obtain a copy of his doctoral thesis, The Masonic Muse. Songs, music and musicians associated with Dutch Freemasonry: 1730–1806 (ISBN 90-6375-1990, price 49.00 euros) go to www.kvnm.nl

London Mason Heads Italian Masonic Library

London mason Yasha Beresiner, a former Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, the premier lodge of masonic research, has been appointed Grand Librarian of the Regular Grand Lodge of Italy (RGLI).
     Yasha Beresiner, a regular contributor to Freemasonry Today, is a noted masonic author and lecturer. He is also a member of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel, and is in a number of other Orders.
     He speaks several languages including Italian and runs a collectibles company specialising in masonic, maps, atlases, playing cards, paper money and related items.
     He said: “My main task is to represent the library, particularly in Europe, and to make acquisitions. The library is international, with books in several languages among its collection. I will be helped by an assistant librarian and a secretary, both based in Rome.”
     He lived in Italy from 1950 to 1953, and has a law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem after completion of a two year stint in the Israeli army parachute regiment – when he married his sergeant, Zmira.
     He also represented Israel at judo in the Student Olympics in Tokyo in 1967 Yasha is a qualified City of London Guide and conducts the walks in English, Hebrew, Italian, French and Spanish. A member of the Streets of London Group of Guides, he has specialised in the East End of London, Sherlock Holmes Walks and a range of City History walks going back to Roman times.
     Formed in 1993, the RGLI established itself on an Anglo-Saxon style of governing of the degrees of the pure and antient universal Freemasonry. The small accumulation of books at the time, housed in the Grand Lodge premises, formed the basis of the Grand Lodge library, now formally launched under the guidance of the new librarian.
     The initial direction for the library is to build a quantitative base of masonic literature, ranging from books and magazines to transactions and related periodicals, concentrating on Italian and English publications initially.
     The library is planned to be open and accessible and a catalogue of the available books will be published on the RGLI website in the near future.
     The Masonic Library of the Regular Grand Lodge of Italy is a member of the Association des Musées, des Bibliothèques et des Archives Maçonniques en Europe (AMMLA) and was represented at its recent convention in Bucharest.
     He lived in Italy from 1950 to 1953, and has a law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem after completion of a two year stint in the Israeli army parachute regiment – when he married his sergeant, Zmira. He also represented Israel at judo in the Student Olympics in Tokyo in 1967.
     Yasha is a qualified City of London Guide and conducts the walks in English, Hebrew, Italian, French and Spanish. A member of the Streets of London Group of Guides, he has specialised in the East End of London, Sherlock Holmes Walks and a range of City History Walks going back to Roman times.
     Go to www.granloggiaregolareitalia.org for more information.

Monmouth PGM Visits South Africa

The Reverend Malcolm Lane, Provincial Grand Master for Monmouthshire, has visited the Diocese of the Highvelt, South Africa, which is twinned with the Monmouth Diocese.
     He is assistant priest at St Mary’s Priory Church, Abergavenny and the visit was a ten-day fact-finding tour of South Africa. This was the first visit of church members since the twinning five years ago.
     Some of the Highvelt churches run soup kitchens for those who may only have one meal a day, while others support women in setting up self-help sewing groups, supported by Diocese of Monmouth parishioners.
     Schools were also visited and Malcolm Lane said: “Although these schools were clearly under-resourced, we were incredibly moved and impressed by the endeavour and resolve of teachers and children. The enthusiasm for learning seems to know no bounds.”
     Some of the youngsters have their only meal of the day at school, while for others their school uniform is the only clothes they own.