Ernest Francillon

Ernest Francillon

Ernest Francillon (born July 10, 1834 in Lausanne , † April 3, 1900 in Saint-Imier ) was a Swiss watchmaker , entrepreneur and politician . He is the founder of Longines . From 1881 to 1890 he represented the canton of Bern in the National Council .

biography

The son of the iron merchant Marc Francillon received a commercial training in Lausanne, Vevey and Stuttgart . After completing an apprenticeship as a watchmaker in Môtier ( Haut-Vully municipality ), he moved to Saint-Imier in the Bernese Jura in 1852 and joined the company of his uncle Auguste Agassiz (brother of the naturalist Louis Agassiz ). Two years later, Agassiz retired and handed over the management of the company to Francillon. Francillon looked for ways to streamline watchmaking. In 1866 he bought a piece of land outside Saint-Imier called les Longines ("the oblong meadows") and had a factory built there. From 1867 pocket watches with the drawing “E. Francillon, Longines, Suisse »produced.

Francillon was a lieutenant colonel in the Swiss Army and a Freemason . His main political concerns were the expansion of the railway network and the promotion of the watch industry. In 1871 he took over the chairmanship of the board of directors of the Chemins de fer du Jura bernois (Jura-Bern-Luzern-Bahn) and held this office until 1888, from 1890 to 1898 he was vice-president of the Jura-Simplon-Bahn that emerged from it . From 1878 to 1882 Francillon was a member of the Bernese Grand Council . In the elections in 1881 he was nominated for the National Council election Bern-Jura in the National Council elected. He belonged to the liberal faction until 1890 and was considered an expert on customs issues. In addition, in 1887 he was the first president of the parish legislature of Saint-Imier.

photos

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  Bust of Ernest Francillon

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  Memorial plaque to Ernest Francillon

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  Longines building complex (2016)

Web links

• Peter Stettler: Ernest Francillon. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .