Experts

Hermann Kinkelin (1832-1913) is considered to have been one of the most influential national social insurance experts before the First World War – in the early days of the Swiss welfare state.

Together with Mentona Moser and Marta von Meyenburg, Maria Fierz was an early exponent of, and specialized in, social work. She managed the Women’s Centre (Frauenzentrale) in Zurich for decades; she was committed to pursuing liberal and social policies, and worked to advance the rights of women.

Together with Mentona Moser and Maria Fierz, Marta von Meyenburg was a trailblazer in establishing social work as a profession in Switzerland. In co-founding the Social Women’s School, she helped early on to establish an institution that promoted the professionalisation of social welfare work in the country.

Christian Moser (1861-1935) was the first federal actuarial mathematician. He was also a professor of actuarial mathematics at the University of Bern and is considered to have been one of the most influential social welfare experts in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Mentona Moser (1874-1971) was a visionary of the youth welfare movement, co-founder of modern social work and, being a staunch communist, an advocate of the socialist women’s movement.

As doctor and the first federal factory inspector, Fridolin Schuler (1832-1903) is considered to have been one of the pioneers of the Swiss welfare state. He was committed to improving the living conditions of factory workers and introducing labour protection legislation at an early stage. In his capacity as factory inspector, he played an important role in enforcing the Federal Factory Act of 1877 in the industrial sector.

Margarita Schwarz-Gagg (1899–1989) was one of the first female experts on the welfare state in Switzerland. As a social scientist and a member of numerous official commissions, she played a leading role in the introduction of maternity insurance and improving conditions for gainfully employed women. Schwarz-Gagg also represented Switzerland at the International Labour Conference for several decades.