Marc-Théodore Bourrit

He was a good artist and etcher, and also a pastor, so that by reason of his fine voice and love of music he was made (1768) precentor of the church of St Peter (the former cathedral) at Geneva.

In 1775 he made the first ascent of the Buet (3096 m) by the now usual route from the Pierre à Bérard, on which the great flat rock known as the Table au Chantre still preserves his memory.

On the other hand, he reopened (1787) the route over the Col du Géant (3371 m), which had fallen into oblivion, and travelled also among the mountains of the Valais and the Bernese Oberland.

[1] He received a pension from Louis XVI, and was named the historiographe des Alpes by Emperor Joseph II, who visited him at Geneva.

[1] Bourrit's writings are composed in a naive, sentimental and rather pompous style, but breathe throughout a most passionate love for the Alps, as wonders of nature, and not as objects of scientific study.