Jakob Robert Steiger (7 June 1801, in

Geuensee Geuensee is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. History Geuensee is first mentioned around 1217-22 as ''de Geînwison''. Geography Geuensee has an area of . Of this area, 70.9% is used for agricult ...

– 5 April 1862) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and President of the

Swiss National Council The National Council (german: Nationalrat; french: Conseil national; it, Consiglio nazionale; rm, Cussegl naziunal) is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the upper house being the Council of States. With 200 seats, the ...

(1848/1849).

Early life and education

Steiger was born to peasants in Geuensee near

Sursee Sursee is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. Sursee is located at the northern end of Lake Sempach, not far from where the ''Sure'' (or ''Suhre'') river exits the lake ("See"), hence the name "Sursee". ...

. His father was from

Büron Büron is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. History Büron is first mentioned in 1130 as ''Burron''. Geography Büron has an area of . Of this area, 67% is used for agricultural purposes, while ...

. With the support of one of his teachers, he studied

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

in Sursee and later also attended high school in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

. He began to study theology in 1823. Not satisfied with this choice, Steiger soon settled to Geneva, where he attended lectures of

Jacques Denys Choisy Jacques Denys (Denis) Choisy (5 April 1799, Jussy – 26 November 1859, Geneva) was a Swiss Protestant clergyman and botanist. He studied theology, law, humanities and sciences at the ''Académie de Genéve''. In 1821 he became ordained as a minis ...

, aiming for a career as a medic.Brändli, Alfred (1953).pp.9–10 Having studied medicine in Freiburg im Bresigau in Germany until 1826 he moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he then also graduated the same year. Already in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, he developed political interests, holding a speech remembering the victory at the

Battle of Sempach The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died. The victory helped turn the lo ...

or taking part in students protests against the expulsion of the Professor of Philosophy Iganz Paul Vital Troxler an influential figure in his life.

Professional career

After having obtained the license to work as a medic also by the Canton of Lucerne. He established himself as a medic in Büron. Additionally he also wrote for the political journal Eidgenossen, which was published first in Sursee, later in Lucerne. In 1830 he was involved in organizing the liberal politics in the countryside of Lucerne which demanded a new constitution for the Canton Lucerne with less power to the aristorcary.

Political career

In late 1830 he was elected into the Constitutional Assembly which crafted the Constitution of 1831. Later that year he was elected into the Grand council and then also the Executive council of Lucerne. He became the president of the Grand Council becoming in 1834. In 1837 he did not stand again for the executive council, alleging the political situation has developed to his satisfaction. In 1841 Steiger was not re-elected into the grand council and following rebelled against the reigning conservative government, specifically against the invitation of the Jesuits to Lucerne. In 1844 he was arrested for his rebellious activities but soon released on bail. In 1845 he was again arrested and sentenced to death. Over 3000 petitions for pardon were written and the sentence caused also some intervention by neighboring countries, the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

offered themselves to negotiate a pardon and exile for Steiger. Eventually Steiger managed to escape and established himself in

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...

, where he worked as a medic. In 1848 he was elected into the National Council of Switzerland which he stayed until 1852, becoming its president in 1848. He was also in the Executive Council of Lucerne until 1852, when he resigned after having lost in his aim to support he construction of railway by the state. Instead, the National Council ordered the railways to be constructed with private funds.

Josef Martin Knüsel Melchior Josef Martin Knüsel (16 November 1813 – 14 January 1889) was a Swiss jurist and politician from the Liberal Radical Party (FDP) and member of the Federal Council of Switzerland over which he presided in 1861 and 1866. Before he was ...

was elected as Steigers successor.

References

Works

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External links