From a noble family of Parisian
typographers, Robert Estienne was in contact with humanist circles throughout
Europe. He adopted the Reformists'
beliefs early on and in 1528 he started editing the Bible in Latin. Quickly suspected of heresy, he received threats from the Sorbonne who
criticised him for circulating Bible texts in their original language and making
translations available to the masses. After
battling for 20 years, he fled Paris in 1550 to go to Geneva where he could
freely follow the religion of his choice and continue his trade.
Robert Estienne published in Geneva, under the olive tree name : Works of Christian theology ( the first one
published was a Greek translation of Calvin's catechism)
Works destined for teaching, dictionaries, of
which the most famous is his Thesaurus latinae linguae
Secular works by Greek and Latin authors. This was in Geneva, during the golden
age of Reformist printing. In 1556 Geneva freely awarded him "bourgeoisie" status in recognition of the
fame that his activity had brought to the Republic. © UNHCR | 
