University of Geneva removes controversial building name

The University of Geneva has decided to remove the name of “Carl Vogt”, a 19th-century naturalist accused of holding racist and sexist views, from a university building. The name will be erased from the university building located on Carl-Vogt boulevard in the centre of the city and replaced with “University of Geneva” (UNIGE), the university confirmed on Thursday. A new name for the building will be chosen following a wide participative consultation. The move, first revealed by Radio Lac, is due to a “certain number of theories about the hierarchy of races and inferiority of the female sex” that Vogt defended, the university stated. Carl Vogt (1817-1895) was a German scientist, philosopher and politician who emigrated to Switzerland. He published a number of works on zoology, geology and physiology. He was active in the creation of the University of Geneva, becoming rector (1874-1875) and later a professor of geology and zoology. “His quest for answers as to the stages of...