FEIGENWINTER, Ernst. – Catholic political figure and sociologist, b. at Reinach (Basel) on 13 March 1853, d. at Bern on 15 September 1919. He defended the rights and freedom of the Church in the debates and struggles that gave final form to the Swiss constitution. He founded the Catholic People’s Party in Switzerland and was consistently a fervent advocate of equal rights and democratic principles.
As a sociologist, he early perceived the dangers and pitfalls of a statist socialism and devoted himself with zeal to the realization of the principles of the *Rerum Novarum*. Principal works: *Die Behandlung der nationalischen Arbeiter in Versicherungsschicht* (1912); *Aus sturmbegehrten Tagen; ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Tschechoslowakischen September 1890* (1913); *Der Kampf um den gerechten Lohn und die Geschichtbeteiligung der Arbeiter* (1918).