Peter Bion

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Peter Bion (born October 18, 1684, presumably in Heidelberg ; † December 1, 1735 in St. Gallen ) was a businessman and entrepreneur and made a significant contribution to the development of the textile industry in the city of St. Gallen. He was the driving force behind the change from canvas to cotton processing .

Life

Bion was born as the son of Salomon Bion, an Electoral Palatinate official, and Elisabetha Noot, the daughter of a Heidelberg lawyer, trader and politician. He was believed to be of Huguenot descent. Bion came to St. Gallen from Heidelberg in 1707 . In 1717 he received the citizenship of the city and ran a shop in which he sold all sorts of goods from distant places, including spices and exclusive fabrics such as silk , barchents and mousseline . As a member of the tailors' guild, he soon presumed to have his own weave from linen and cotton yarn. However, this contradicted the guild rules and the weavers' guild asked him to either go over to it and give up the shop or to refrain from weaving. Bion decided on the former and joined the weavers' guild. He quickly began to trade on a large scale with all sorts of materials, but especially with the relatively new cotton, and to manufacture products with it. The emerging cotton industry initially obtained its yarn from the Glarnerland, later from Toggenburg and the Appenzellerland . Because the city councils paid little attention to the still young and initially insignificant cotton industry, Bion was allowed to do all of its business. When he handed over his business to his successor Peter Gonzenbach (1701–1779) in 1732, the triumphant advance of cotton as the new focus of the St. Gallen textile industry could no longer be stopped.

See also

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to HLS, other sources also name Metz , the Neue Deutsche Biographie names France as the place of origin of the family and Metz as well as Strasbourg as places through which the family fled to Heidelberg; his mother was from Heidelberg

swell

personal data
SURNAME Bion, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1684
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Heidelberg
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 1735
Place of death St. Gallen