Josef Franz Karl Amrhyn Explained

Josef Franz Karl Amrhyn
Office:2nd Chancellor of Switzerland
Term Start:1831
Term End:1847
Predecessor:Jean-Marc Mousson
Successor:Johann Ulrich Schiess
Birth Date:11 February 1800
Birth Place:Lucerne, Switzerland
Death Place:Lucerne, Switzerland
Alma Mater:University of Göttingen
University of Freiburg
University of Paris

Josef Franz von Sales Johann Baptist Karl Nikolaus von Flüe Amrhyn (11 February 1800 in Lucerne, Switzerland – 7 April 1849), was a Swiss politician who served as the second Chancellor of Switzerland from 1831 to 1847.

Biography

Son of former Diet President Joseph Karl Amrhyn, he studied at the Pestalozzi school of the château Yverdon (1810-1812), then at the gymnasium and lyceum of Lucerne before pursuing legal study at Göttingen, Freiburg-im-Brisgau, and Paris (1820-1823). In 1822 he joined the Old Freiburger fraternity.

He began his career as a private secretary to his father before being named deputy magistrate in Lucerne in 1824, where he would play a controversial role in the trial of the murder of Franz Xaver Keller. He then served as Secretary of State of the Confederation (1825-1830), then Chancellor of the Confederation on the proposal of his predecessor Jean-Marc Mousson from 1831 to 1847.

Catholic and moderately liberal, he was opposed to the objectives of the Sonderbund (an alliance of Roman Catholic cantons) and resigned in 1847 for his refusal to declare war against the coalition and therefore against the canton of his hometown, Lucern. On 7 April 1849, his body was discovered in the River Reuss. The circumstances surrounding his death have never been elucidated.

References

[1] [2] [3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Martin Merki . Amrhyn, Josef Franz Karl . Hls-dhs-dss.ch . 2016-01-10.
  2. Web site: Schweizerische Bundeskanzlei - Josef Franz von Sales Johann Baptist Karl Nikolaus von Flüe AmRhyn (1830-1847) . Bk.admin.ch . 2007-12-02 . 2016-01-10.
  3. Web site: Parcours à travers l'histoire de la Chancellerie fédérale . Admin.ch . 2016-01-10.