Swiss who changed the world

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Ulrich Zwingli (1484 – 1531), a father of the Reformation A priest who was against mercenary service, Zwingli was in the thick of the debate between those who advocated religious reform and those who were against. Zwingli wanted to convert the whole of Switzerland to the new faith. But he did not succeed, any more than Jean Calvin, a French refugee in Geneva, who came after him. In October 1531, the Catholic cantons defeated the Protestants at Kappel. Zwingli was killed there as he was tending the wounded. swissinfo.ch

Francesco Borromini, Domenico Trezzini and the masters of religious architecture (17th - 18th centuries) Francesco Borromini (1599-1667) was born in Ticino, and learned his craft at St Peter's in Rome. He enriched the baroque style by adding curves and organic elements. Later, Domenico Trezzini (1670-1734) was the architect chosen by Tsar Peter the Great for his new capital of St Petersburg. Both of them were the heirs of a corporation over a thousand years old, the "Comacini", Lombard masons who built churches and palaces all over Europe. swissinfo.ch

The Bernoullis and Leonhard Euler (17th - 18th centuries), mathematical geniuses The Basel-based Bernoulli family revolutionised maths in the course of two generations. Brothers Jacob (1654-1705) and Johann (1667-1748) were pioneers in the development of infinitesimal and probability calculus. Johann's son Daniel, applied the discoveries of his father and uncle to physics. Leonhard Euler, also from Basel, a pupil of Jakob and friend of Daniel, wrote more than 800 papers on mathematics, astronomy and physics. swissinfo.ch

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778), a man of unpopular ideas Rousseau, author of the Social Contract and The New Héloïse and Confessions, and precursor of the French Revolution and the Romantic movement, was born in Geneva, which did not become part of Switzerland for another 100 years. If today France claims him as one of its own, during his lifetime no-one really wanted him - neither the Parisian philosophers of the Enlightenment, nor the people of Môtiers, who drove him out and burned his books. swissinfo.ch

Jacques Necker (1732 – 1804), financier to the king Born in Geneva, Necker made his fortune in Paris, by lending money to the royal treasury. In 1776 Louis XVI named him minister of finance. He conducted a strict policy of controlling expenditure. He resigned in 1781, but was recalled in 1788. He tried to persuade the king to abolish certain privileges, which won him the respect of the people and got him dismissed three days before the taking of the Bastille - the first event in the French Revolution. swissinfo.ch

Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), watchmaking genius Born in Neuchatel, Breguet learned his craft in Versailles, then set up on his own account in Paris. Among his innovations were the first self-winding watch, Arabic numerals on the watch face and the shock absorber. In 1810 he made the first wrist watch for Caroline Murat, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. He also designed instruments for physicists and astronomers. swissinfo.ch

Antoine-Henri de Jomini (1779 – 1869), strategist to the French emperor and Russian tsar Jomini came from canton Vaud, and moved to Paris in 1801. As a result of his first treatise on strategy he was appointed aide de camp to Marshal Ney, and was later made a general and baron of the Empire. But in 1813 he switched allegiance to the tsar and set up the Russian Military Academy. He returned to Paris in 1855, having been pardoned. Along with Clausewitz he is regarded as the first theorist of modern warfare, and his work is still studied today. swissinfo.ch

Henry Dunant (1828 – 1910), inventor of humanitarian law An entrepreneur born in Geneva, in June 1859 Dunant was at Solferino, hoping to see Napoleon III about a concession for his business. He arrived the day after the battle, and spent three days tending to the wounded, then three years drawing up the principles of what was to become the Red Cross. He persuaded all the relevant parties to accept an international convention, signed in Geneva in August 1864. He received the first ever Nobel peace prize in 1901. swissinfo.ch

César Ritz (1850 – 1918), king of hoteliers, and hotelier to kings The English word "ritzy" is derived from the name of César Ritz, the son of a shepherd from a village in the Valais. César Ritz arrived in Paris at the age of 17 and climbed quickly through the ranks of the hotel profession. Just 11 years later he was already managing two large establishments. He was later invited to take up the top job at the Savoy in London. In 1897 he opened the Ritz in Paris, followed later by a hotel of the same name in London. swissinfo.ch

Carl-Gustav Jung (1875 – 1961), exploring the soul Born in canton Thurgau, the son of a pastor, Jung was a doctor before he became a psychiatrist. He took an early interest in the pioneering works of Freud, whom he met in 1907 and seemed set to take over his mantle. But the two men fell out in 1912, Jung refusing to accept Freud’s stress on sexuality. After a period of soul-searching, he began to develop his own ideas, such as the collective unconscious, considered heretical by Freud's supporters. . swissinfo.ch

Louis Chevrolet (1878 - 1941), a motoring legend Born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Chevrolet moved to France, where he repaired bicycles and won cycle races to earn the money to fulfil his American dream. In New York in 1906 he set a world speed record for cars, reaching 191.5 kph. In 1911 he established the Chevrolet company along with William Durant, who was to go on to found General Motors. But the two men fell out and Louis lost the right to use his name in the vehicle construction industry. swissinfo.ch

Le Corbusier (1887 – 1965), visionary architect Born in la Chaux-de-Fonds, trained in Vienna, Paris and Berlin, Le Corbusier started off by designing decidedly modern villas. He settled in Paris in 1917, and took French nationality. Whether as architect, town planner, essayist, painter or sculptor, Le Corbusier produced an immense body of visionary work. Among other things, in the aftermath of the Second World War he rethought the way in which people live together in residential quarters. swissinfo.ch

Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889 – 1943) and dadaism The Great War brought an influx of artists and intellectuals to Switzerland. The Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich was the meeting place of the artistic avant-garde. There were a few female dadaists, including Davos-born Sophie Täuber, a precursor of abstract painting. In 1922 she married another dadaist, Jean Arp, which gave her French nationality. A painter, but also an architect, decorator and dancer, she became a major figure on the international art scene. swissinfo.ch

Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), a Swiss composer in Paris Born in France to a Swiss family, Honegger, the composer of Pacific 231, had only sporadic contact with Switzerland: he studied at the Zurich conservatory and worked with Basel conductor Paul Sacher. In 1921 he was commissioned by René Morax, director of the Théâtre du Jorat, to write the oratorio Le Roi David, one of his most successful peices. He also collaborated with the author Denis de Rougemont on Nicolas de Flue for the 1939 National Exhibition. swissinfo.ch

Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980), exploring the child's mind Piaget, from Neuchatel, was trained as a biologist, but switched to the development of intelligence as he watched the way his own three children became more aware. He taught in Neuchâtel, Geneva and Lausanne, and to this day is the only Swiss to have held a chair at the Sorbonne in Paris. Piaget revolutionised ideas about how children think, proving that their ideas follow their own rules, which are different from those of the adult. swissinfo.ch

Alberto Giacometti (1901 – 1966), tormented sculptor Giacometti was the son of a painter. He was born in canton Graubünden, studied art in Geneva, and then moved to Paris, where he worked with the surrealists. In 1934 the group repudiated him because he had painted portraits. During the war he took refuge in Geneva, but afterwards he returned to Paris, where he gained an international reputation. He is best known for his elongated sculptures expressing the fragility and loneliness of the human condition. swissinfo.ch

Denis de Rougemont (1906 – 1985), spiritual father of Europe De Rougement, from canton Neuchâtel, associated with anti-conformist circles in Paris in the 1930s, where he helped launch a number of journals, including Esprit. He returned to Switzerland in 1939, where he was mobilised and where he co-founded the anti-fascist Gotthard League. After the war he started developing the idea of a federalist Europe, and helped set up the European Cultural Centre. swissinfo.ch

Albert Hofmann (1906 – 2008), tripping out Hofmann was a chemist working in the Sandoz laboratory in Basel when in 1943 he discovered by chance the properties of lysergic acid, derived from ergot, a fungus that typically grows on rye. Under the acronym LSD, it was initially used psychoactively before becoming a recreational drug at the heart of the hippy counter-culture of the 1960s. Debate still rages over its uses and effects. But its discoverer lived to be over 100. swissinfo.ch

Max Frisch (1911 – 1991), a writer for everyone Frisch, who came from Zurich, was a journalist and architect before becoming a writer and playwright, traveller, pacifist and critical patriot. His play Andorra, which made his name internationally, was a condemnation of everyday racism. In his novels he challenged notions of morality and the vagaries of fate. He was nominated several times for the Nobel, and won a number of prestigious prizes in Germany, Israel and the United States. swissinfo.ch

Meret Oppenheim (1913 – 1985), an icon of surrealism Born in Berlin, Oppenheim spent her youth in Basel, then went to Paris where she was known to the surrealists as "the fairy woman whom all men desire". Her work Breakfast in Fur, a fur-covered cup, saucer and spoon, was inspired by a conversation with Picasso and is now in the New York Museum of Modern Art. After her sudden fame, she fell into a long period of obscurity. In the 1950s she started to work again in Switzerland. swissinfo.ch

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921 – 1990), a writer for everyone A writer, playwright and painter, Dürrenmatt started off by producing somewhat caricatural crime novels. When he was 35 his play The Visit brought him an international reputation. In a style that mixed grotesque humour, a sense of the absurd and quasi religious feeling, he expressed the doubts of the post-war generation and their impotence in the face of chaos. In the 1960s he was regularly the most performed German language writer in the world. swissinfo.ch

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Down the centuries many Swiss have made names for themselves far beyond the borders of their own country, often when they have lived and worked abroad.

As in any selection, the choice cannot but be subjective. It does not include all the great names from the areas of politics, business, science and art who have helped bring renown to this small country. But the men and the few women featured here were all great Swiss people.
(Pictures: Keystone, akg images, RDB, Swiss National Library, wikipedia)