Joseph August Rohner commonly known as Anton Rohner (24 February 1871 - 4 November 1951) was a Swiss

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man,

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and member of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

. Since 1940, he served as principal of the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

. He was a great-uncle of Albert Ziegler.

Early life and education

Rohner was born 24 February 1871 in Au, St. Gallen, Switzerland, the seventh of twelve children, to Joseph Gebhard Rohner (1836-1908) and Anna Maria (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Zoller; 1835–1912). His father was a well-respected personality who served as municipal councilor and as a member of the

Cantonal Council of St. Gallen The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important periods in the development of ...

. He was active in the textile industry. Rohner's elder brother, Gebhard Jr., served as custodian of the

Abbey of Saint Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall () is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot where Saint Gall had er ...

. His youngest brother, Joseph Carl Rohner known as Anselm, was clergy as well in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. He completed the Gymnasium in

Engelberg Engelberg (lit.: ''mountain of angel(s)'') is a village resort and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Alongside the central village of Engelberg, the municipality enc ...

and at the Lyceum Schwyz. Then he studied philosophy and theology at the

and the

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

Career

After receiving his Doctorate in Philosophy, Rohner spent nine years living in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Turin, Italy Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. Between 1919 and 1921, he served as professor at the

, and again from 1922 to 1942. Between 1940 and 1941 he was the principal and from 1941 to 1942 the vice-principal of the university.Curriculum Vitae (published in NZZ) https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=NZN19580104-01.2.7&srpos=3&e=------195-de-20--1--img-txIN-Anton+Rohner-------0-----

Literature

* ''Die Gewissensfreiheit. Rektoratsrede zur feierlichen Eröffnung des Studienjahres am 15. Nov. 1940.'' Fribourg 1940 (in German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohner, Anton 1871 births 1951 deaths 19th-century Swiss Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Swiss Roman Catholic priests Swiss academics Swiss philosophers University of Fribourg alumni Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf alumni Academic staff of the University of Fribourg People from the canton of St. Gallen