Franz Jacob Wigard (31 May 1807 – 25 September 1885) was a German physician[1] who eventually built a career as a liberal politician in the Kingdom of Saxony.

[2] Between 1826 and 1832 he attended the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich where his studies covered Roman Catholic theology, philosophy, jurisprudence and cameralism (Administration sciences).

[4] He undertook a training in stenography (shorthand) with Franz Xaver Gabelsberger and entered government service.

In 1834 Franz Jacob Wigard founded the Saxony Stenography Institute at Dresden and in 1843 he was appointed to a professorship in the subject.

His political-religious activities during the increasingly fevered period between 1845 and 1848 led to his being relieved of his job as a parliamentary stenographer.