August Rikli

August Rikli (full name: Ernst August Rikli ; born January 24, 1864 in Wangen an der Aare , † August 6, 1933 in Langenthal ) was a Swiss politician ( SP ) and doctor . From 1908 to 1921 he was a member of the National Council.

biography

Rikli was the son of the chemist and dye works owner Johann Rudolf Rikli. His uncles were the natural healer Arnold Rikli and the St. Gallen National Councilor Samuel Friedrich Rikli . From 1883 to 1891 he studied medicine at the universities of Bern , Heidelberg and Munich . Rikli, who had the rank of colonel in the Swiss army , ran a medical practice in Wiedlisbach until 1898 . Then he was appointed to the Langenthal Hospital, where he worked as chief physician until 1928 . He was particularly involved in the fight against tuberculosis and was involved with the Swiss Red Cross (from 1921 to 1927 as Red Cross chief doctor).

In line with his family background, Rikli initially had liberal political views. Under the influence of the Bern workers 'secretary Nikolaus Wassilieff, he increasingly turned to the Grütliverein , a workers' association associated with the Social Democrats. He ran for the National Council elections in 1908 and, with the support of the conservative Bern People's Party of Hugo Dürrenmatt ( Ulrich Dürrenmatt's son ), won the election in the Oberaargau constituency . In parliament, Rikli initially belonged to the social policy group (faction of the democratic movement ), in 1911 he joined the Social Democratic Party. As an opponent of the national strikes and advocate of national defense, he fell out with the Social Democrats in 1919 and switched back to the socio-political group. In 1921 he resigned from the National Council.

Web links

• Christoph Zürcher: Rikli, Ernst August. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .