Louis Perrier

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Louis Perrier

Frédéric François Louis Perrier (born May 22, 1849 in Neuchâtel , † May 16, 1913 in Bern , resident in Orges and Sainte-Croix ; mostly called Louis Perrier ) was a Swiss architect and politician ( FDP ). He designed numerous train stations and other public buildings. After political activity at the municipal and cantonal level, he was a member of the National Council from 1902 . In 1912 he was elected to the Federal Council , but he died after only 13 months in office.

biography

Study and job

The eldest son of the architect Louis-Daniel Perrier and Cécile Dardel received his school education in Neuchâtel. In 1868 he started at the Technical University of Stuttgart a study architecture , which he three years later at the Federal Polytechnic of Zurich and graduated with a diploma. He gained his first professional experience together with his father, including in 1878/79 with the project planning of the headquarters of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sèvres near Paris .

Perrier then went into business for himself and received numerous orders for public buildings. These include the main post office of La Chaux-de-Fonds , the Saignelégier hospital , the University of Neuchâtel , the barracks of Colombier and the schools of Les Verrières and Marin . In addition, there are Le Locle train station and all the train stations on the Broyelinie between Lyss and Palézieux . He was also the construction manager of the Neuchâtel – Boudry tram line and the aqueduct between the Areuse gorge and Neuchâtel. Perrier, who remained a bachelor throughout his life, also pursued a military career. Promoted to colonel in 1896 , he commanded the engineering troops of the 1st Army Corps. From 1902 to 1906 he was in command of the fortress of Saint-Maurice .

politics

Perrier's political career began in 1888 when he was elected to the Conseil général , the legislature of the city of Neuchâtel. He belonged to this until 1891 and again from 1894 to 1903. In the parliamentary elections in 1902 he was elected as a candidate for the FDP for the National Council. In 1903 he was also elected to the Neuchâtel State Council , in which he took over the building department. In this role, he managed, among other things, extensive restoration work at Neuchâtel Castle . In the National Council he earned a reputation for being particularly competent.

After Federal Councilor Robert Comtesse announced his resignation, a group of French-speaking parliamentarians named Perrier as his successor. Liberal newspapers described him as a friendly, intelligent and cultured man who, thanks to his sociability, willpower, experience and determination, would make a good federal councilor and administrator. The only serious opponent was the former Federal Councilor Adrien Lachenal , who wanted to run again thirteen years after his resignation, but withdrew his candidacy. The Federal Assembly elected Perrier to the state government on March 12, 1912, whereby he prevailed in the first ballot with 160 of 192 valid votes. To Professor Eugène Borel jr. (Son of the Federal Council of the same name ) received eleven votes, and another 21 votes; 21 ballot papers were blank.

Perrier took office as Federal Councilor on April 15, 1912. He took over the management of the postal and railway departments . His goal was to bring the last private railways in Switzerland into federal ownership, which only partially succeeded. At the beginning of 1913 he moved to the Department of the Interior and began drafting a law on the utilization of water power. But a little over five months later he died unexpectedly after a brief illness. To this day, Perrier is the Federal Councilor with the shortest term of office.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jelmini: The Federal Council Lexicon. P. 264.
  2. ^ Jelmini: The Federal Council Lexicon. Pp. 264-265.
  3. ^ Jelmini: The Federal Council Lexicon. P. 265.
  4. ^ Jelmini: The Federal Council Lexicon. Pp. 265-267.
predecessor Office successor
Robert Comtesse Member of the Swiss Federal Council
1912–1913 		Felix Calonder
personal data
SURNAME Perrier, Louis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Perrier, Frédéric François Louis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss architect and politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuchâtel
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1913
Place of death Bern