ESCHER, ALFRED

born Feb. 20, 1819, Zrich died Dec. 6, 1882, Zrich dominant figure in 19th-century Zrich politics and legislator of national prominence who, as a railway magnate, became a leading opponent of railway nationalization. Quickly rising in cantonal political affairs, Escher had by 1848 become president of the Zrich government. Elected the same year to the Nationalrat (national assembly), he was four times its president, notably during the Neuchtel crisis with Prussia (185657). Often a voice for moderation against the advocacy of radical measures by Jakob Stmpfli, he tempered passions in the Neuchtel affair and urged peaceful accommodation in the controversy arising from the cession of Savoy to France (1860). Between 1850 and 1870 Escher was probably the most influential of all Swiss legislators. The head of a railway company, he championed private construction of railroads and opposed the nationalization program of Stmpfli (1862). The driving force behind the construction of the Gotthard line, he helped secure the necessary German and Italian cooperation for the project in 186971, and in 187178 he presided over its direction.