Arthur Fonjallaz

Arthur Fonjallaz ( born January 2, 1875 in Prilly; † January 24, 1944 in St. Moritz ) was a colonel in the Swiss army and a prominent person in the front movement.

Curriculum vitae

Fonjallaz, son of Vaud wine farmers from Lausanne, was born in a mental hospital in Cery at Prilly, where his mother was interned. He attended the Military Academy in Modena. In the Swiss army, he reached the rank of Oberstbrigadiers before he had to resign in 1923 after an affair. In November 1933, Fonjallaz was discharged from the Swiss militia army.

Politically, he was first active in the farmers, commercial and civil party (BGB). In 1932 he resigned from the Civil Code and took up a position as lecturer in War Studies at the ETH Zurich. In early 1933 he founded in Rome, the Swiss fascist movement. He was a follower of the Italian politician and writer Enrico Corradini.

On October 17 Fonjallaz traveled to Rome and was received by Benito Mussolini in the Palazzo Venezia. The visit led to the Swiss public to considerable debate. Overall Fonjallaz Mussolini met about 15 times, and he got to 1936 about 600,000 francs of Mussolini.

In 1934, the Front parties Heimatwehr and the Swiss fascist movement joined under the leadership of Fonjallaz together to Helvetic action.

In April 1934, Fonjallaz launched a popular initiative for a ban of Freemasonry. The Fonjallaz initiative was filed December 10, 1934, 56'238 signatures and in the referendum on November 28, 1937 clearly rejected.

In 1937 he published a book about Mussolini (energy et Volonte ), whereupon he was expelled from the home defense.

Fonjallaz 1940, was arrested in Schaffhausen when trying to enter Germany. In 1941, he was sentenced to three years in prison, on charges of spying for Germany.

On January 24, 1944 Fonjallaz died.