Joseph Wicky

Joseph Wicky (born July 15, 1788 in Friborg ; † December 31, 1856 there) was a Swiss politician and State Councilor of the Canton of Friborg .

Life

Wicky was a Catholic and came from a Lucerne family that had had Freiburg citizenship since 1753. His parents were Jacques-Xavier Wicky (1757–?), Surveying commissioner (1784) and notary (1786), and Marie-Catherine nee. Guillod. Jacques-Xavier played an important role in the Helvetic Republic : He was a member (1798–1803) and President (1800–1803) of the Administrative Chamber of the Canton of Friborg, which administered the local goods of the central government. He was also a member of the cantonal court. During the mediation he was active as a collector (1803-1814). Joseph Wicky's nephew Jean-Edouard (1832-1884) was the founder and first director of the fertilizer factory, where he worked with the doctor Félix Castella, who was the son of André Castella , a radical councilor of the 1848 regime.

The young Joseph Wicky went through a military career in the service of the Napoleonic Empire and took part in the campaigns in Prussia (1806), Poland (1806-1807) and Austria (1809). In the Battle of Wagram (1809) he was injured by a shot in the head. He then served in Portugal and Spain (1810–1812) and thus escaped the Russian campaign . In the Battle of Almeida (1811) he was injured by a bullet in the thigh and a lance blow in the cheek. As a daring daredevil in the French cavalry , he defeated an artillery platoon with twelve men during the siege of Burgos. He took part in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig (1813) and received the Legion of Honor . After his return to Switzerland, he was a captain instructor of the Freiburg cavalry (1817–1831) and then head of this force. In 1832 he was appointed lieutenant colonel in the canton . In 1837 he was appointed to the Federal General Staff and was entrusted with several important commands.

In November 1847 he entered the political arena as a member of the provisional government and war director. On March 8, 1848 he was elected seventh in the Council of State with 56 of 62 votes. His colleagues put him at the head of the war administration, which he headed from 1848 to 1855. He passed the law of January 16, 1848 on the organization of the Freiburg militia. Wicky was not only war director, but also chief commander of all Friborg troops with the rank of colonel . He played a major role in suppressing the Nicolas Carrard uprisings. After he was re-elected on November 27, 1855 with poor results (in the fifth ballot with 34 of 65 votes), he withdrew from the State Council. A year later, on December 31, 1856, he died at the age of 68.

literature

• Georges Andrey , John Clerc, Jean-Pierre Dorand et Nicolas Gex: The Freiburg Council of State: 1848–2011. History, organization, members . Editions La Sarine, Freiburg 2012, ISBN 978-2-88355-153-4 .

Web links

• Albert Portmann-Tinguely: Wicky, Joseph. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .