Arthur Fonjallaz

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arthur Fonjallaz (born January 2, 1875 in Prilly ; † January 24, 1944 in St. Moritz ) was Colonel Brigadier of the Swiss Army and an outstanding figure in the front movement .

resume

Fonjallaz, the son of a Vaudois wine grower from Lausanne , was born in the psychiatric institution in Cery near Prilly, where his mother was interned. He attended the military academy in Modena . In the Swiss Army he reached the rank of Colonel Brigadier before he had to resign in 1923 after an affair. In November 1933, Fonjallaz was released from the Swiss militia army.

Politically, he was first active in the farmers, trade and citizens' party (BGB). In 1932 he left the BGB and took up a position as a lecturer in war science at the ETH Zurich . At the beginning of 1933 he founded the Swiss Fascist Movement in Rome . He was a supporter of the Italian politician and writer Enrico Corradini .

On October 17th Fonjallaz traveled to Rome and was received by Benito Mussolini in the Palazzo Venezia . The visit led to heated discussions among the Swiss public. In total, Fonjallaz met Mussolini about 15 times, and by 1936 he received about 600,000 francs from Mussolini.

In 1934, the front parties of the Heimatwehr and the Swiss Fascist Movement joined forces under the leadership of Fonjallaz to form the Helvetic Action .

In April 1934, Fonjallaz launched a popular initiative to ban Freemasonry . The Fonjallaz initiative was submitted on December 10, 1934 with 56,238 signatures and was clearly rejected in the referendum on November 28, 1937.

In 1937 he published a book about Mussolini ( Energie et Volonté ), after which he was expelled from the homeland army.

In 1940 Fonjallaz was arrested in Schaffhausen while trying to enter Germany . In 1941 he was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of espionage for Germany.

Fonjallaz died on January 24, 1944.

literature

  • Claude Cantini: Le Colonel Fasciste Suisse. Arthur Fonjallaz . P.-M. Favre, Lausanne 1983, ISBN 2-8289-0093-X .
  • Mauro Cerutti: Mussolini bailleur de fonds des fascistes suisses. Les relations entre le colonel Arthur Fonjallaz et le Duce, à la lumiére de nouveaux documents italiens . In: Swiss History Journal . ISSN  0036-7834 , Vol. 35, 1985, No. 1, pp. 21-46 ( full text ).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fonjallaz, Arthur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss colonel, politician of the front movement
DATE OF BIRTH January 2, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Prilly , Canton of Vaud, Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 1944
Place of death St. Moritz