Louis Curchod (7 October 1826 – 18 October 1889)

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

engineer, telegraph specialist, Director of the ''Swiss Telegraph Service'', and first head of the ''International Telegraph Bureau'' (today known as the ITU).

Early life

Curchod was born in 1826, to a pastor in

Crissier Crissier () is a municipality in the district of Ouest Lausannois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a suburb of Lausanne. History Crissier is first mentioned in 1199 as ''Crissiaco''. In 1228 it was mentioned as ''Crissie''. Geograp ...

, in the

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

canton of Switzerland. He studied engineering at the

École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

in Paris, from which he graduated in 1849. For a short period he worked in railway construction; then, in 1852, he became the service inspector of Lausanne’s telegraphic system. In 1857 the Swiss government (Federal Council) elevated him to become Director of Switzerland’s Federal Administration of Telegraphs.

International Telegraph Union

Curchod represented Switzerland at the first International Telegraph Conference, held in Paris in 1865, which saw the birth of ITU. The second International Telegraph Conference in 1868 created a permanent central secretariat for the Union in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. Originally called the Bureau international des Administrations télégraphiques, the secretariat was supervised by the Swiss government and which also appointed its director. Louis Curchod was the first person in that post, which he held for some twenty years until his death in 1889 with a brief interruption of 1870-1873 during the tenure of Charles Lendi, while Curchod served as director of French transatlantic cable project. The ITU secretariat in Bern started with just three members of staff, who had to turn their hands to every task. For instance, the precursor of today’s ITU News (the Journal Télégraphique) was initially produced in Curchod’s own home with the help of his household. He oversaw the International Telegraph Conferences of 1871 in

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, 1875 in

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, 1879 in

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and 1885 in

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. Curchod received many honours from member governments of ITU, including admittance to the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

References

Obituary - The Electrician November 1, 1889
Swiss engineers École Centrale Paris alumni 1826 births 1889 deaths International Telecommunication Union people {{Switzerland-engineer-stub