Jakob Kopp (politician)

Jakob Kopp (born April 23, 1786 in Beromünster ; † January 22, 1859 in Lucerne ) was a Swiss politician and judge . From 1848 to 1854 he was a member of the National Council, from 1837 to 1841 and from 1848 until his death he was a member of the government of the Canton of Lucerne .

biography

Kopp was the son of an official of the Beromünster Abbey . He attended the community and collegiate school there and worked as a furrier and in the community administration. As an autodidact he did legal studies and worked as a lawyer from 1814 . When he supported a petition against the aristocratic coup in the same year, he was embroiled in a political process. In 1820 he moved his office to Lucerne. From 1829 he was suppleant (substitute judge) at the higher court , from 1831 public prosecutor and 1836/37 interrogator.

Kopp was one of the leading figures of the moderate liberals in the canton of Lucerne , who rejected both the conservative state system and the experiments of the radical liberals . In 1826 he was elected to the Grand Council , to which he belonged for over three decades until his death. In 1829 he was able to achieve a certain degree of liberalization through a stronger separation of powers , and in 1831 he was a member of the Constitutional Council . In the years 1832 to 1835 and 1837 to 1841 he was a member of the great city council of Lucerne. The Great Council elected him to the Small Council in 1837 , which he chaired in 1838 and 1841 as mayor.

In the years 1832, 1835 and 1837 to 1841 Kopp was envoy to the Diet , and in 1838 he was President of the Diet. In 1841 the Catholic Conservatives took power. Kopp resigned from the State Council and became Vice President of the Higher Court. With legal means he tried in vain to prevent the appointment of Jesuits to the higher educational institutions. He strove to form a center party, but the free troops torpedoed his efforts. During the Sonderbund regime from 1845 to 1847, he was a member of the Lucerne City Council and the District Court.

After the end of the Sonderbund War of 1847, Kopp was vice-president of the cantonal government temporarily installed by the federal troops. In 1848 he transferred to the elected government, which he headed every two years until 1856 as mayor. He had a moderating effect on his radically liberal government colleagues by invoking the standpoint of the law and trying to find a balance. In October 1848, Kopp ran successfully in the first National Council elections . From 1851 he represented the constituency of Lucerne-South , and in 1854 he no longer stood for re-election.

His older brother Karl Martin Kopp was also a member of the Lucerne government.

Web links

• Heidi Bossard-Borner: Kopp, Jakob. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .