LACHAT, EUGÈNE. - Bishop of Basel, b. at Montavon (Canton of Bern) on 14 Oct. 1819, d. at Balerna in the Canton of Ticino on 1 Nov. 1886. Having completed his theological studies in Italy and been ordained on 24 Sept. 1842, he was first appointed rector of the shrine of Trois-Epis in Alsace, where he remained for about six years, then parish priest of Grandfontaine in Switzerland (1850). After subsequently governing the deanery of Delémont for nearly a decade, he was consecrated Bishop of Basel by Pius IX on 28 Sept. 1863.
Because of his fidelity to the Pope and to the decisions of the Vatican Council, in which he had actively participated, he came into sharp conflict with the cantonal political authorities; consequently he was removed from the government of the diocese (1873) and exiled (1874). Having first settled at Altishofen and then at Lucerne, he resigned in 1884 at the wish of Leo XIII; shortly thereafter he was elected apostolic administrator of the Canton of Ticino and simultaneously appointed titular archbishop of Damietta.