LACHAT, EUGÈNE. - Bishop of Basel, b. at Montavon (Canton of Bern) 14 Oct. 1819, d. at Balerna in the Canton of Ticino 10 Nov. 1886. After completing his theological studies in Italy and being ordained on 24 Sept. 1842, he was first appointed rector of the sanctuary of Trois-Épis in Alsace, where he remained for about six years, then parish priest of Grandfontaine in Switzerland (1850). After having governed for nearly a decade the deanery of Delémont, he was consecrated by Pius IX Bishop of Basel on 28 Sept. 1863.
Because of his fidelity to the Pope and to the decrees of the Vatican Council, in which he had taken an active part, he came into sharp conflict with the cantonal political authorities, as a result of which he was deposed from the government of the diocese (1873) and exiled (1874). Having first settled at Altishofen, then at Lucerne, he resigned in 1884 at the wish of Leo XIII, shortly afterwards being elected Apostolic Administrator of the Canton of Ticino and simultaneously named titular archbishop of Damietta.