Joseph-Samuel Farinet

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Portrait possibly depicting Farinet, who had become an old man on the run, found in 2007
Salentze Gorge, where Farinet died. On the left the rock with the shape of a giant's head. The scenery was painted by Courbet.

Joseph-Samuel Farinet (born June 17, 1845 in Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses , Aosta Valley , † April 17, 1880 in Leytron ) was a smuggler and counterfeiter who has become a legend, especially in Lower Valais .

The name of the complementary currency Farinet is derived from Joseph-Samuel Farinet . a. is accepted in tourism circles in Lower Valais and corresponds to the value of the Swiss franc .

Farinet's life

Farinet and his assistants mainly produced 20 centimes coins . These enjoyed more trust among the rural and commercial population in Lower Valais than the paper money of the Cantonal Bank , which was also in crisis due to incorrect speculation, especially during the time of Farinet's work 1870–1880. For more than ten years he brought so many 20-Räppler into circulation that a third of all coins are said to have been so-called "Farinets". In view of the extent of the circulation of counterfeit money, the Swiss Federal Council intervened and asked the Valais cantonal government to arrest the perpetrator. Farinet moved relatively undisturbed in public and was often seen in stalls . Eventually he was written out and surrounded by gendarmes in a ravine of the Salentze river near Saillon. He died on April 17, 1880 under unknown circumstances, in a gorge of the Salentze , which flows into the Rhone in the municipality of Leytron near Saillon in the canton of Valais . The police presented the death as an accident: he slipped and fell into the river basin below. The prevailing opinion among the population was that the hunted was hit in the head by a shot from a police weapon. The autopsy also gave no clear result. Farinet's grave is in the neighboring parish of Saillon at the foot of the church tower.

The protocols of the Farinet trials were published in 1980 by the state archivist of the canton of Valais, André Donnet, and represent an important source of sources.

Farinet's aftermath

1 Farinet (= CHF 10) from the Walliser Kantonalbank

In 1998 the canton of Valais launched a medal that could be exchanged for ten francs at the cantonal bank up to a certain date and named it “Farinet”.

The “Farinet” has been relaunched in Valais since May 2017, and is used as a means of payment primarily in the tourism industry. An exchange office in Sion issues such bills with a value of 1, 2, 5, 10, 13, 20, 50 and 100 Farinets, and these notes are accepted by over a hundred shops between Monthey and Salgesch . A total of 500,000 Farinets were printed, which nominally correspond to the value of the Swiss franc. With this advertising measure one hopes above all success in the revitalization of tourism. The new Farinet is therefore not intended as a replacement currency for the Swiss franc.

literature

  • André Donnet: La véritable histoire de Joseph-Samuel Farinet, faux-monnayeur. Payot, Lausanne 1980, ISBN 2-601-00144-5 .
  • Alain Bagnoud: Saint Farinet. Vevey 2005.
  • Willi Wottreng : Farinet. The fantastic life story of the Swiss counterfeiter, who was bigger dead than alive. Orell-Füssli-Verlag, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-280-06113-8 .
  • Regina Abt-Baechi: Farinet the counterfeiter. How it became a myth . Daimon Verlag, Einsiedeln 2016, ISBN 978-3-9524468-0-5 .

Artistic adaptations

2013 poster in Berlin with reference to Farinet (right)

The long service, the popularity and the unexplained death promoted the creation of myths.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ André Donnet: Farinet devant la justice valaisanne 1869-1880. Dossiers de procédure pénale (2 volumes), Martigny 1980.
  2. ↑ The Valais now has its own currency . Tages-Anzeiger from May 13, 2017.
  3. ↑ Farinet - The gentle and the wild freedom in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  4. ↑ Review 1991 - 2013 , on the website of the Landscape Theater Ballenberg
  5. ^ "Farinet, Geld-Fabrikant", discussed on July 8, 2010 on tagesanzeiger.ch
  6. ^ Description of the play on the Saanenland open-air theater site

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Farinet, Joseph-Samuel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss counterfeiters
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1880
Place of death Canton of Valais