Alois Wyrsch

Alois Wyrsch (15 June 1825 – 6 March 1888; also known as Louis Wyrsch) was a Swiss politician and a member of the National Council between 1860 and 1872. He was also a member and the president of the executive council in the canton of Nidwalden. Wyrsch was the first member of colour of the National Council.

Early life and education Alois Wyrsch was born on 15 June 1825 on the island of Borneo. His father, Louis Wyrsch, was a Swiss mercenary in the service of the Dutch East Indies in Banjarmasin, southern Borneo, while his mother, Johanna van den Berg, was a Javanese native. Johanna was called njai (maid in Malay) in his father's diaries. He and his sister were both baptised in a Catholic church in Surabaya on Java. His father had been wounded and had the right of a pension of a thousand Dutch guilders and earned the title of a Dutch knight of the House of Orange. In the 1860s he was also elected to the communal assembly of Buochs. Wyrsch died on 6 March 1888 in Buochs.