Philippe Mercier (politician)

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Philippe Mercier (* 6. September 1872 in Glarus ; † 16th January 1936 in Bern ) was a Swiss lawyer , politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and diplomat , among other things, between 1907 and his death in 1936 a member of the Council of States and of 1916 to 1917 President of the Council of States . He was then envoy to the German Reich from 1917 to 1919 .

Life

Mercier was the son of the diplomat and politician Charles Philippe Mercier , who was both a member of the National Council and the Council of States, and his wife Emilie Heer, whose father Joachim Heer was Federal President in 1877 . His younger brother Joachim Mercier was also a member of the Council of States. After attending grammar school in Zurich , he studied law at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin , the University of Bern , the University of Zurich and the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg , where he also received a Dr. jur. acquired.

In 1896 Mercier became a member of the Glarus City Council, of which he was a member until 1904. In addition, he became a member of the District Administrator of the Canton of Glarus in 1896 and was a member of it until 1935. In addition to his political career, he began his professional career as a lawyer in 1899 and was initially an eye inspector between 1899 and 1911 and president of the eye inspection court from 1902 to 1911. During this time he was also from 1904 to 1908 mayor of Glarus and 1905-1906 President of the District Administrator of the Canton of Glarus. In 1906 he was appointed chief judge at the higher court of the Canton of Glarus and worked there until his death in 1936.

On June 3, 1907, Mercier also became a member of the Council of States, where he represented the Free Democratic Party (FDP) until his death in 1936 . During his membership in parliament he was temporarily President of the Finance and Military Commission as well as a member of the Customs Tariff Commission and was also a member of the Interparliamentary Union . Between 1911 and 1936 he also served as President of the Higher Court of the Canton of Glarus. In 1911 he became a member of the central board of the FDP. In 1916 he succeeded Georges Python as President of the Council of States and held this position until he was replaced by Beat Heinrich Bolli in 1917. During the First World War , he served in the rank of brigadier as Chief of Staff of the 1st Corps and the 2nd Corps of the Swiss Army .

On December 26, 1917, Mercier replaced Robert Haab as envoy in the German Reich and held this post until September 30, 1919, after which Alfred von Planta became his successor. In 1920 he was one of the co-founders of the General Citizens' Party in the Canton of Glarus, which is now part of the FDP.

Mercier was married twice, in his first marriage from 1899 until her death in 1925 with the doctor Emilie Katharina Ursina Lendi, and from 1928 in the second marriage with the factory owner's daughter Susanna Trümpy. His sister-in-law Amalia Henrietta Mercier-Jenny, wife of his brother Joachim Mercier, was president of the Swiss Charitable Women's Association (SGF) between 1940 and her death in 1952 .

Background literature

  • Gerhard Boerlin: Councilor of States Dr. Philipp Mercier in memoriam , in: Schweizer Monatshefte , Volume 15, Issue 11, 1936, pp. 545–547. Full text

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans Laupper, Veronika Feller-Vest: Mercier, Charles Emanuel Philippe. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ↑ Mercier, Charles Philippe in the database Dodis the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
  3. ↑ Hans Laupper: Heer, Joachim. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  4. ↑ Hans Laupper, Veronika Feller-Vest: Mercier, Joachim. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  5. ↑ Mercier, Joachim in the database Dodis the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
  6. ↑ Veronika Feller-Vest: Mercier-Jenny, Amalia Henrietta. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  7. ↑ Mercier Jenny, Amalia Henrietta in the database Dodis the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
personal data
SURNAME Mercier, Philippe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss lawyer, politician and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH September 6, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Glarus
DATE OF DEATH January 16, 1936
Place of death Bern