Chalet Venel, Jean-Jacques

The son of the watchmaker Barthelemy Chalet lived in his youth in modest conditions. In 1830, Jean-Jacques Chalet finished studying literature at Geneva College, then worked as a French teacher at the Venel Boarding School in Geneva. In 1839, he married Antoinette Venel, the daughter of the founder of the school, and added her last name to his. In 1847, he participated in the war with Sonderbund , where he commanded an artillery battery.

In 1851, Chalet-Venel founded the local conservative party, which was in opposition to the radicals of James Fazy . In 1854 he was elected to the cantonal parliament of Geneva . After being re-elected in 1856, he changed his party and joined his former political opponent Fazi. In 1858 he was elected to the cantonal government (Kantonsregierung). In the government, he was first responsible for the cantonal army, and since 1861 for finance.

In 1857, he became a member of the National Council . On July 12, 1864, Chalet Venel was elected as the successor to Giovanni Battista Pioda in the Swiss Federal Council . At first he headed the finance department ( 1864 - 1867 ), then the postal department ( 1868 ), again the finance department ( 1869 ) and finally the postal department again ( 1870 - 1872 )

Chalet Venel, as a staunch federalist, was an opponent of any centralization, and therefore strongly opposed the revision of the constitution. This restored many German-speaking parliamentarians against him and in the December 7, 1872 election to the Federal Council, he was replaced by Eugene Borel .

Since 1885 he headed the Chamber of Commerce of Geneva.

• Profile on the Swiss Federal Council website
• Biography in the "Historical Dictionary of Switzerland" in French , German and Italian .