Paul Bonifas

Ceramicist
Swiss, (1893–1967)

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Bonifas was born on November 11, 1893 in Geneva Switzerland and attended Ecole de Beaux-Arts de Geneve while working for his father as an apprentice jeweler and engraver. While doing so, he became interested in enamels, which exposed him to glass and ceramic media. Between 1914 and 1922, Bonifas lived and worked in both Geneva and Paris, where he became friends with the founders of French Purism, Amedee Ozenfant and Le Corbusier. Bonifas was the secretary of the Purist magazine L’Esprit Nouveau until he moved back to Geneva in 1922 when he purchased a pottery workshop. In 1946, he moved to the United States and taught at Washington State University until he retired in 1959. He remained a dedicated maker and ceramic educator until he passed away in 1967 at the age of 73.