Introduction

Biography

Francis was the son of bank­er Jacques-Oc­tave Cha­pon­ni­ère and Jeanne Su­sanne Au­la­ni­er.

He earned his de­gree in theo­lo­gy and was ordained in 1867. He then tra­veled to Pa­ris, Ger­ma­ny, It­aly, Eng­land and Scot­land, be­fore fi­nal­ly sett­ling in Ge­ne­va in 1870.

From 1870–79 he was pri­vat-do­cent at the Fa­cul­ty of Theo­lo­gy, where he taught New Tes­ta­ment.

By 1880, he was writ­ing the re­li­gious pa­per Se­maine Re­li­gieuse de Ge­nève, con­tin­uing un­til 1920.

In 1909, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ge­ne­va award­ed him the de­gree of Doc­tor of Theo­lo­gy hon­or­is cau­sa.

Chaponnière was mod­er­at­or of the Young Men’s Chris­tian As­so­cia­tion (YMCA), and a pro­mot­er of the Na­tion­al Ev­an­ge­li­cal Un­ion.

He al­so took a great in­ter­est in mis­sions, chair­ing the Ge­ne­va Com­mit­tee on the Pa­ris Mis­sion­ary So­ci­ety, and con­trib­ut­ing to the found­ing of the Na­tion­al Ev­an­ge­li­cal Un­ion in 1871.

Works

• La Ques­tion des Con­fess­ions de Foi au Sein du Pro­test­ant­isme Con­tem­po­rain
• Pasteurs et La­ïques de l’É­glise de Ge­nève au Dix-Deux­ième Si­ècle