Johann Rudolf Tschiffeli (16 December 1716 - 15 January 1780) was a Swiss

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

who founded the Economic Society of Berne in 1758. He was a wealthy merchant, economist and lawyer. Johann Rudolph Tschiffeli was born in Bern in 1716, in a patrician family. He spent much of his youth in

Rheineck Rheineck is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Rheineck is first mentioned about 1163 as ''castellum Rinegge''. In 1218 it was mentioned as ''Rinegg''. An older ...

. His father, also named Johann Rudolpf Tschiffeli (1688 - 1747), was at first the General Secretary of

Canton of St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern ...

and from 1734 on the

Landvogt A ''Vogt'' (plural ''Vögte'') was a title and office in the Old Swiss Confederacy, inherited from the feudal system of the Holy Roman Empire, corresponding to the English '' reeve''. The German term ''Vogtei'' is ultimately a loan from Latin '' ...

of Bern, when the family moved to

Wangen an der Aare Wangen an der Aare is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. This small town lies between Olten and Solothurn in rural surroundings on the Aare, a major river of the west-central lowland ...

. After the death of his parents, Tschiffeli took over the care of his four younger siblings, and of his own household. In 1755 he became clerk at the superior marriage court, which position meant a steady income. He occupied this post until his death. In 1758, Tschiffeli formed the Economic Society ("Ökonomischen Gesellschaft"), which was influential beyond the Swiss borders.

Albrecht von Haller Albrecht von Haller (also known as Albertus de Haller; 16 October 170812 December 1777) was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist, encyclopedist, bibliographer and poet. A pupil of Herman Boerhaave, he is often referred to as "the fa ...

was at one time the secretary and president of it, and in its long history it had contact with people like

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau Victor de Riqueti, Marquis de Mirabeau (5 October 1715, Pertuis13 July 1789, Argenteuil) was a French economist of the Physiocratic school. He was the father of Honoré, Comte de Mirabeau and André Boniface Louis Riqueti de Mirabeau. He was, i ...

Jean-Marie Roland, vicomte de la Platière Jean-Marie is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 1950), a French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medicine, cult expert, and graduate in criminal law * Jean-Marie Ch ...

Gaetano Filangieri Gaetano Filangieri (22 August 1753 – 21 July 1788) was an Italian jurist and philosopher. Filangieri was born in San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, in the province of Naples, Italy. He was born the third son of a sibship of the noble family of Filang ...

, and Arthur Young. Members included Niklaus Emanuel Tscharner and Vincenz Bernhard Tscharner. Activities decreased around 1800, but the society was restarted in 1838 and still exists in 2011. Tschiffeli was also an agricultural reformer, and he owned two farms, one at Kirchberg and one at

Moosseedorf Moosseedorf is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The village is located south of Moossee, the lake that gives it its name. History Moosseedorf is first mentioned in 1242 as '' ...

. He trained educator

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (, ; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking r ...

in agriculture in 1767 and 1768. Tschiffeli was a member of the

Helvetic Society The Helvetische Gesellschaft / Société Helvétique, or Helvetic Society as it is known in English, was a patriotic society and the first Swiss reform society. It was founded by Swiss philosopher Isaak Iselin, poet Solomon Gessner and some 20 other ...

Bibliography

*''Mémoire sur la culture de la garance'', 1765, Rouen, 2 volumes *''Grundsäze der Stadt Bern in ihren ersten Jahrhunderten'', 32 pages, Brunner und Haller, 1766 *''Von der Stallfütterung und vom Kleebau in der Schweiz'', 139 pages, Haller, 1774 (republished 1789) *''Lettres sur la nourriture des bestiaux à l'étable'', 72 pages, Perisse, 1779 (republished 1805, 1819) *''L'art de fertiliser les terres, ou observations sur les prairies artificielles & sur l'usage du plâtre employé comme engrais'', 48 pages, Perisse, 1779

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