Sigi Feigel (17 May 1921 – 28 August 2004) was a Swiss attorney, President and Honorary President of the

Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich (ICZ) Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich (Jewish Community of Zürich), commonly shortened to ''ICZ'', is a united Jewish community in the Swiss city of Zürich. Consisting of about 2,500 members, the ICZ is the largest Jewish community in Switzerland ...

, and notable for his campaigns against

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

Life and work

Feigel was born in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

immigrants. He received his PhD in jurisprudence at the

University of Zürich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 ...

in 1949. From 1949 to 1977, he was the director of the textile factory inherited by his wife, Evi Heim. The firm was sold in 1977, and from 1983, Feigel worked as an attorney. Feigel was President of the Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich (ICZ), Switzerland's biggest

Jewish Community Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, from 1972 till 1987, and then became its Honorary President. He founded the ''Stiftung gegen Rassismus und Antisemitismus'' ("foundation against racism and antisemitism") (GRA) in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he was instrumental in the development of the Swiss anti-racism legislation (1995), and involved as a moderating voice of reason in the debate surrounding the role of

Switzerland during the World Wars During World War I and World War II, Switzerland maintained armed neutrality, and was not invaded by its neighbors, in part because of its topography, much of which is mountainous. Germany was a threat and Switzerland built a powerful defense. I ...

in the context of the

World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss Banks The World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks was launched in 1995 to retrieve deposits made into Swiss banks by victims of Nazi persecution during and prior to World War II. Initiated as WJC negotiations with both the Government of Switzer ...

. He received several decorations, including an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...

of the University of Zürich, in 1998. Sigi Feigel was buried in Zürich's Israelitischer Friedhof Oberer Friesenberg. In 2006, the city of Zürich named a terrasse at the

Sihl The Sihl is a Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat in the centre of the city of Zürich. It has a length of , including the Sihlsee reservoir, through which the river fl ...

river after him, the "Sigi-Feigel-Terrasse" ().

Literature

* Gisler, Andreas, ''"Die Juden sind unser Unglück", Briefe an Sigi Feigel 1997-98'', Zürich (1999): collection of letters to Feigel in the context of the "Switzerland during WWII" controversy * Obermüller, Klara, ''"Schweizer auf Bewährung", Gespräche mit Sigi Feigel'' * Stutz, Hans (ed.), GRA reports on racist incidents in Switzerland, Zürich 2001-2007 * Braunschweig, Ernst (ed.), ''Antisemitismus - Umgang mit einer Herausforderung:

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...

zum 70. Geburtstag von Sigi Feigel'', Zürich (1991),

External links

* *
Biography

Stiftung gegen Rassismus und Antisemitismus (GRA)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feigel, Sigi 1921 births 2004 deaths Activists against antisemitism Swiss Jews Jewish anti-racism activists 20th-century Swiss lawyers Anti-racism in Europe Writers on antisemitism University of Zurich alumni Academic staff of the University of Zurich Swiss people of Russian-Jewish descent