Jonas Furrer

Jonas Furrer (3 March 1805 – 25 July 1861) was a Swiss lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Federal Council, from 1848 to 1861, and as the first president of the Swiss Confederation from 1848 to 1849, and again in 1852, 1855 and 1858. He was one of the leading figures in the foundation of Switzerland as a federal state.

Furrer was admitted to the bar in 1832, and that year he married Friederike Sulzer, daughter of Johann Heinrich Sulzer. In 1834, aged 29, he was elected to the Cantonal Council of Zürich. He served until 1839, and was again elected in 1842. At the Cantonal Council, he was the leader of the Liberal opposition to the Conservative government of Johann Kaspar Bluntschli. In 1845 he became president of the Council of State of Zürich.