Johann Jakob Stehlin was a Swiss politician of the Free Democratic Party

Free Democratic Party of Switzerland

The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....

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Born in Basel

Basel

Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

, Stehlin was mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of that city from 1858 to 1868. He also represented the canton Basel-City

Basel-City

Basel-Stadt is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. The city of Basel and the municipalities of Bettingen and Riehen form its territory.-History:...

 in the National Council

National Council of Switzerland

The National Council of Switzerland is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. With 200 seats, it is the larger of the two houses....

, which he presided over in 1858/59 and 1867/68, and in the Council of States

Swiss Council of States

The Council of States of Switzerland is the smaller chamber of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, and is considered the Assembly's upper house. There are 46 Councillors....

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On 11 July 1885, Stehlin was elected to the Swiss Federal Council

Swiss Federal Council

The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....

 to succeed the deceased Josef Munzinger. The next day, he declined the election, becoming the first of five Councillor-elects (as of 2008) to do so. Josef Martin Knüsel was elected in his place on 14 July.

Two of Stehlin's sons also acquired renown: Karl Rudolf Stehlin, also a member of the Council of States, and Johann Jakob Stehlin junior, a noted architect.