Léonard Jenni

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Léonard Jenni (* 1881 in Ennenda ; † 1967 in Geneva , actually Leonhard Jenni ) was a Swiss lawyer and women's rights activist . He campaigned for Swiss women's suffrage and was married to Hedwig Anneler .

Life

Jenni studied in Leipzig jurisprudence and earned his doctorate. He was a lawyer for a group of 26 women who in 1923 demanded to be included in the electoral register of the Canton of Bern . The canton's government council rejected the request. In 1923, in a constitutional complaint to the Federal Supreme Court , he demanded the right to vote and be elected for Swiss women, citing the constitutional principles of self-determination, freedom and equality. He argued that the term “Swiss” in Article 74 (1) of the Federal Constitution , which regulates the right to vote in federal affairs, also includes women. In all other articles of the Federal Constitution and in legislation, expressions in masculine form such as “citizen” and “Swiss” would also include women. The federal judges justified their rejection with old customary and statutory law that excludes women from political voting rights.

From 1926 Jenni lived in Geneva. In 1928 he failed again with a petition for the granting of voting rights for women, which this time he submitted on behalf of some Geneva women and men. The request for a legal reinterpretation of the term "Swiss" in voting rights Article 74 of the constitution was rejected by the Federal Council and the Federal Supreme Court as well as by the Federal Assembly as the highest instance of the constitutional interpretation on the following grounds:

“If you now claim that the term should also include Swiss women, you are exceeding the limits of permissible interpretation and thereby committing an act that contradicts the meaning of the constitution. [...] The restriction of voting rights to male Swiss citizens is a fundamental principle of federal public law. "

From 1928 he was a member of the organization of naturists in Switzerland founded the year before , for which he worked as a legal advisor in the first years of its existence. He was co-founder and chairman of the Swiss League for Human Rights .

literature

  • The new time , section Friends parting , No. 127, p. 102.
  • Hans Mayer: A German on withdrawal. Memories. Volume 1. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1988, pp. 191-194. Memories of the German Jewish Germanist Hans Mayer (1907–2001) on Jennis help for the refugee Mayer in Geneva from 1934.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The long road to women's suffrage . Federal Commission for Women's Issues
  2. ↑ a b c d Women's suffrage and women's movement. In: frauennet.ch. Retrieved April 17, 2016 . The statement that Jenni was a member of the National Council is wrong.
personal data
SURNAME Jenni, Léonard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jenni, Leonhard (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss lawyer and women's rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Ennenda
DATE OF DEATH 1967
Place of death Geneva