Isabelle Graesslé
Isabelle Graesslé (born 23 February 1959) is a French born theologian, feminist and former museum director, based in Geneva. In 2001 she was appointed moderator of ministers and deacons at the Protestant Church of Geneva. The position dates back to 1541 when it was created by John Calvin, but Graesslé, after 460 years, was the first woman to occupy it. In 2004 she was appointed the first director of the International Reformation Museum which opened the next year in Geneva, but she resigned the post in 2016. It was indicated that her departure followed disagreement about levels of funding. The time she spent studying in Ohio was important in the development of a feminist context for Isabelle Graesslé's academic and pastoral work. "The United States enabled me to discover that an impressive number of women have impacted the history of Christianity, but then been ignored in subsequent historical research". "Les États-Unis m’ont permis ... de découvrir qu’un nombre impressionnant de femmes ont jalonné l’histoire du christianisme et qu’elles avaient été passées sous silence dans les recherches antérieures." Isabelle Graesslé was born in Strasbourg. She was her parents' only child. On successful completion of her school studies she went on to undertake the "Grandes Écoles" preparation course. She studied Philology at Strasbourg, and then Theology at both Geneva and the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio from where she obtained a Master of Divinity qualification. Her doctorate, from the Protestant Theology Faculty at Strasbourg followed in 1988. She was supervised for her dissertation by Gilbert Vincent. Her topic was "Elements for a Rhetoric of Preaching: Readings of Athanase Josué Coquerel" ("Éléments pour une rhétorique de la prédication: Lectures d'Athanase Coquerel"). Her habilitation, obtained from the University of Bern in 2004, opened the way, potentially, to a lifelong university professorial career. Meanwhile, in 1987 Graesslé became a part-time pastor at the Protestant chaplaincy to the University of Geneva and director of the Centre for Protestant Studies.
