Search Results - Mayer, Jean-François
Jean-François Mayer

Following a brief career in radio, he undertook an analysis of new religions in Switzerland for the Swiss National Science Foundation, funded by a grant; the results of this work were published in a 1993 book, ''Les nouvelles voies spirituelles''. In the 1990s, he was an analyst for the Swiss federal government on international affairs and policy. Following this, he became a lecturer and research associate at the University of Fribourg, and founded the Religioscope Institute and website, which supply information on religion.
Mayer is most well known for his work covering the Order of the Solar Temple, a group notorious for committing several acts of mass murder-suicide in the 1990s, which resulted in a media frenzy. Having been the only person to study the group prior to their deaths, he was personally consulted by the Swiss police in their investigation of the organization, and was appointed as an expert in the case. Provided by Wikipedia