Stefano Franscini

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Stefano Franscini

Stefano Franscini (born October 23, 1796 in Bodio ; † July 19, 1857 in Bern , resident in Bodio) was a Swiss politician , school teacher , publicist and statistician . After serving in the government of the Canton of Ticino for a total of twelve years , he was elected to the Federal Council in 1848 as a representative of the liberal center (today's FDP ) . Franscini organized the first census in Switzerland and made a significant contribution to the establishment of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology . In addition, his development work in the field of statistics formed the basis for the establishment of the Federal Statistical Office .

biography

Youth and Studies

Franscini came from the simplest of backgrounds; he was the son of the farmer Giacomo Franscini and Regina Orlandi from the village of Bodio in the lower Leventina . He received his first schooling in the neighboring village of Personico at the priest's free winter school. The parents wanted their son to pursue a career as a priest. Franscini therefore attended the seminar in Pollegio from 1808 , where he could use one of the free study places for students from the Leventina. In 1815 he began to study theology at the archiepiscopal seminary in Milan . Four years later, however, he turned to non-religious subjects and continued his autodidactic training in history, law, economics, statistics and pedagogy in libraries. He earned his living as a teacher at various schools.

Franscini met Carlo Cattaneo , who introduced him to liberal Milanese society. Together with him he translated "Des Schweizerlands Geschichte" by Heinrich Zschokke into Italian and in 1821 made a trip to Zurich . In doing so, he realized how backward the education system was in the canton of Ticino . He had a long-term pen friendship with the geographer Gerold Meyer von Knonau . In 1823 he married Teresa Massari, with whom he had two children.

Science and journalism

For family reasons, Franscini returned to Ticino in 1824. He continued to work as a teacher and wrote several textbooks, including grammars, manuals for arithmetic and reading books. These were not only used in Ticino, but also in Lombardy . He also wrote articles on history, economics and statistics for the Gazzetta Ticinese . In 1826, Franscini and his wife opened a school for mutual teaching based on the Lancaster method in Lugano , which aroused great suspicion in conservative circles. He also offered school lessons for girls. In addition, he continued his statistical studies. His main work is the Statistica della Svizzera published in 1827 . In this 500-page book, he was the first to conduct a comparative analysis of Switzerland, and he also linked science with explicitly liberal political views.

Franscini caused a stir with various fonts. In 1828 Della pubblica istruzione nel Cantone Ticino (“On Public Education in the Canton of Ticino”) was published, in which he denounced the backward education system in Ticino and the reactionary political conditions under governor Giovanni Battista Quadri . A year later he anonymously published the brochure Della riforma della Constituzione Ticinese (“On the reform of the Ticino constitution”) in Zurich , a sharp criticism of the representatives and institutions of the restoration . In order to spread the values ​​of liberalism, republicanism and federalism, he founded several magazines: L'osservatore del Ceresio (1830), Il propagatore svizzero delle utili notizie (1838) and L'amico delle riforma (1838).

Canton politics

Inspired by Franscini's journalistic activities, the Grand Council (Gran Consiglio) approved a liberal constitutional reform on June 23, 1830 against the will of the Landammann, which was approved by the district assemblies on July 4. In 1830 the Grand Council elected Franscini State Secretary, making him head of the cantonal administration. The following year his wife died; In 1836 he married her sister Luigia Massari. In the book series “Paintings of Switzerland” in 1835, he introduced his fellow Swiss citizens to the previously little-known canton of Ticino.

From 1837 to 1845 and again from 1847 to 1848, Franscini was a member of the State Council (Consiglio di Stato) , the Ticino cantonal government. Between 1845 and 1847 he worked again as State Secretary. He was committed to improving education and promoting industry and trade. In 1841, 1843, 1845 and 1846 he represented Ticino at the Federal Diet . In 1847 he had to avert an impending famine in Mendrisiotto ; he went to Milan to procure grain on behalf of the canton. During the Sonderbund War , he organized the defense of the city of Bellinzona after the Ticino army had been surprised by the troops of the Sonderbund . After the end of the war, he prepared the transition to a liberal state order in the canton of Valais on behalf of the Diet.

Federal Council

After the new federal constitution came into force , Franscini was elected to the National Council in the first parliamentary elections. On November 16, 1848, the Federal Assembly elected him the fifth Federal Council . In the third ballot he received 68 of the 132 votes cast, the least of all newly elected Federal Councilors (53 votes went to Friedrich Frey-Herosé , 10 to Wilhelm Matthias Naeff ). Franscini was assigned the Department of the Interior . It was in line with his interests, but was not considered to be particularly demanding, as many domestic political competencies still rested with the cantons. He did pioneering work in the development of the administrative apparatus, which includes the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Archives . In 1850 he organized the first nationwide census almost on his own . He also worked on legislation in the fields of agriculture, forestry and road construction.

Franscini's most important project was the creation of a Swiss university under the direction of the federal government. He first obtained information from the cantons about the status of their educational system. Since the responses received were so varied, it was not until April 1851 that he was able to set up a commission of experts. The project was further delayed due to more urgent customs and railroad deals and stubborn opposition from central and western Switzerland. Only in January 1854 could it be dealt with in parliament. Although a federal university was enshrined in the constitution, it has now met with rejection and failed due to the particularism of the cantons. Only a polytechnic (today's ETH Zurich ) was approved , as it did not affect any cantonal interests; it started operating in 1855.

Because of his poor knowledge of German and his hearing impairment, Franscini was increasingly considered an outsider in the state government. At that time it was customary for Federal Councilors to run a “ compliment election ” every three years and run for membership as national councilors . While he barely managed to get re-elected in 1851, he fell through in the elections to the National Council in 1854 in the constituency of North Ticino . As a result, he lacked the legitimation to continue to exercise his office. As luck would have it, in the canton of Schaffhausen only one of two seats was occupied after two ballots. The liberals then put Franscini up as a candidate and advertised in several newspaper articles for the Ticino, who was defeated in his home canton by "Pfäffisch-Austrian intrigues". Franscini managed to be elected to the Schaffhausen National Council. Thereupon he was confirmed as Federal Councilor by the Federal Assembly , albeit only in the third ballot with 81 of 147 votes.

To prevent another debacle, Franscini announced his resignation at the end of 1857. A little later, however, he died completely unexpectedly at the age of 60 in office. Franscini had evaluated the data, experience gained and survey methods used in the census of 1850 in the book series "Contributions to the Statistics of the Swiss Confederation", which appeared from 1851 to 1858 in five parts. Although these publications were recognized as personal merit, they met with largely disinterest or even skepticism in the federal administration and among parliamentarians. It was not until 1860 that the Federal Statistical Office was founded , which could fall back on Franscini's works and preparatory work.

Works

  • Statistica della Svizzera. Lugano 1827; 2nd edition 1848–1849, Supplement 1851
  • Della pubblica istruzione nel Cantone Ticino. Lugano 1828
  • Della riforma della Constituzione Ticinese. Zurich 1829
  • The canton of Ticino, described historically, geographically and statistically. St. Gallen 1835
  • Statistica della Svizzera italiana. Lugano 1837-1839
  • Overviews of the population of Switzerland. Bern 1851
  • Semplici verità ai Ticinesi sulle finanze e su altri oggetti di ben pubblico. Lugano 1854
  • Storia della Svizzera italiana dal 1797 al 1802. Compiled by Pietro Peri , Lugano 1864
  • Annali del Cantone Ticino. ed. by Giuseppe Martinola , Bellinzona 1953.

Documentary film

literature

Web links

Commons : Stefano Franscini  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Agliati, Ceschi: Das Bundesratlexikon. P. 57.
  2. ↑ Roger Friedrich: Father of Swiss Statistics . (For the 200th birthday of the Ticino Federal Councilor Stefano Franscini). In: Swiss monthly books . tape 76 , no. 11 . SMH-Verlag, Zurich 1996, p. 13-14 ( online ).
  3. ^ Agliati, Ceschi: Das Bundesratlexikon. Pp. 57-58.
  4. ↑ a b c Agliati, Ceschi: Das Bundesratslexikon. P. 58.
  5. ^ Marco Marcacci, Nelly Valsangiacomo: Tessin (Canton). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . 2017 .
  6. ^ Agliati, Ceschi: Das Bundesratlexikon. Pp. 58-59.
  7. ^ Federal Councilor Franscini and the "Poly". Neue Zürcher Zeitung , July 17, 2007, accessed on April 1, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Lukas Leuzinger: The unknown Schaffhausen Federal Council. Napoleon's Nightmare, September 6, 2014, accessed January 6, 2015 .
  9. ^ Agliati, Ceschi: Das Bundesratlexikon. Pp. 60-61.
  10. ↑ Celestino Trezzini : Stefano Franscini. Digitized In: Historical-Biographical Lexicon of Switzerland . Volume 3, Fe - Freibergen, Attinger Verlag, Neuchâtel 1926, p. 230.
predecessor Office successor
- Member of the Swiss Federal Council
1848–1857 		Giovanni Battista Pioda
personal data
SURNAME Franscini, Stefano
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss statistician and politician
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1796
PLACE OF BIRTH Bodio TI
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1857
Place of death Bern