Simeon Bavier (16 September 1825 in

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

– 27 January 1896 in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

) was a Swiss politician, member of the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...

(1878–1883). Bavier was trained as an underground construction engineer at the

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; ) is both a German public research university in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, and a research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 when the University of Karlsruhe (), founde ...

and the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart () is a research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with programs in civil, mechanical, ind ...

from 1841 until 1844, and was instrumental in building some of the alpine roads in

Grisons The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include: * ; *Romansh language, Romansh: ** ** ** ** ** **; * ; * ; * . See also list of European regions with alternative names#G, other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton ...

. After 1853, he focused on building railway lines both in Switzerland and abroad. Coming from a family that was involved in the transport business, he was a staunch proponent of the ''Ostalpenbahn'', a transalpine railway connection through Grisons and over the Lukmanier Pass, which would have fundamentally changed the economic situation of Grisons. From 1863 until 1878, he represented both the liberals of Grisons in the

Swiss National Council The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States, represents the states, preventing more populous parts of the country overpowering the rest. As the p ...

. When he began to support the federal subsidies for the Gotthard railway, his image improved and he was seen less as a one-sided ''Ostalpenbahn'' supporter. He was elected to the national government, the

, on 10 December 1878 and resigned on 5 January 1883. He was affiliated with the

Free Democratic Party of Switzerland The Free Democratic Party (, FDP; , PLD), also called Radical Democratic Party (, PRD; , PLR) was a liberal political party in Switzerland. Formerly one of the major parties in Switzerland, on 1 January 2009 it merged with the Liberal Party of ...

. During his time in office he held the following departments: * Department of Finance (1879) * Department of Posts and Railways (1880–1881) * Political Department (1882) as President of the Confederation He was President of the Confederation in 1882.

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* * 1825 births 1896 deaths People from Chur Swiss Calvinist and Reformed Christians Free Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Foreign ministers of Switzerland Finance ministers of Switzerland Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Presidents of the Swiss Confederation Ministers of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of Switzerland Members of the National Council (Switzerland) {{switzerland-politician-stub