- Emil Frey
Emil Johann Rudolf Frey (
October 24 ,1838 -December 24 ,1922 ) was a Swiss politician, soldier in the American Civil War andmember of the Swiss Federal Council (1890–1897).__NOTOC__Early life
Frey was born in
Arlesheim , Switzerland, as the son ofEmil Remigius Frey . His father was liberal separatist politician.Frey's family provided refuge for
Friedrich Hecker when he fled the repression following the revolution inGermany in 1848. He later emigrated to theUSA arriving inBelleville ,Illinois an area with manyForty-Eighters , veterans of the 1848 revolutions in Europe. For a while he worked for Hecker, but they had a falling out. [ [http://www.burhop.net/24illinois/formation.htm II Formation and Enlistment] by Ray W. Burhop, accessed10 December 2007 ]Career during the American Civil War
Frey entered the unionist
24th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment as a
private. Hecker was his commander, and they became friends again, with Frey sharing a tent with Hecker's son. Frey was madeensign and later rose to the rank ofcolonel , raising the 81st Illinois Regiment. He was taken prisoner and held inLibby Prison for eighteen months before being exchanged for Captain Gordon, a Confederate prisoner under sentence of death. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9A0CE1DF1530E433A25753C2A9679D94639FD7CF&oref=slogin 'Receiving the Swiss Minister: Col. Frey receiving the congratulations of his countrymen']New York Times ,20 November 1882 ]wiss politician
After the Civil War, Frey returned to Switzerland. From 1866 to 1872, he was a member of the cantonal government of
Basel-Country . In 1870, he married Emma Kloss (1848-1877) with whom he had five children.In 1872, Frey was elected to the
Swiss National Council , council he presided in 1875/1876.From 1882 to 1888, Frey was the first ambassador ("Minister") of Switzerland to the United States in
Washington .He was elected to the
Federal Council of Switzerland onDecember 11 ,1890 and handed over office onMarch 31 ,1897 . He was affiliated to the Free Democratic Party. During his office time he held the Military Department.He was President of the Confederation in 1894.
From 1897 to 1921, Frey was director of the
International Telegraph Union . [ [http://www.itu.int/net/ITU-SG/former_sg.aspx ITU: ITU's Former Secretaries-General] ]References
External links
*Swiss Federal Councillor|33
* [http://www.baselland.ch/docs/archive/hist/bio/2/FREY_Emil-J.htm Personenlexikon des Kantons Basel-Landschaft] de icon
* [http://www.bl.ch/3/blgeschichte/506frey.html Emil Frey - der Baselbieter Bundesrat] de icon
*HDS|3823|author=Fritz Grieder
* [http://query.staatsarchiv.bs.ch/query/Detail.aspx?ID=121501 Archiv der Basler Familie Frey] - Family archives in Basel de icon
*PND|11883505X
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