Switzerland Federal 1848, 1848 (b/w photo)

A Federal Council engraving in 1848, with Ulrich Ochsenbein, Jonas Furrer, Daniel-Henri Druey (back row from left to right), Friedrich Frei-Herose, Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Stefano Franscini and Martin Muenzinger (front row from left to right) will be held at Villa Ciani in Lugano on Wednesday, 23 May 2007. of the death of Ticino politician and statistician Stefano Franscini, a special exhibition was opened today at Villa Ciani in Lugano. Franscini made a name for himself in Ticino as State Secretary, particularly by raising the level of education and promoting industry and commerce. Following the adoption of the new Federal Constitution, he was elected to the Federal Council on 16 November 1848, where he remained until his death in 1957. Switzerland owes him the foundation of the Zurich Polytechnic, the predecessor organization of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Franscini can also be regarded as the real creator of Swiss statistics.