Peter Ochs

Peter Ochs (20 August 1752, Nantes, France – 19 June 1821, Basel, Switzerland) was a Swiss politician who is best known for drawing up the first constitution of the short-lived Helvetic Republic.

With Frédéric-César de La Harpe, he called for the French to send troops into Switzerland, overthrow the "decayed Confederation"[citation needed] and establish a unified nation.

Ochs himself drew up a new constitution, abolishing the Confederacy and establishing a new central government, inspired by the French model.

In Basel Ochs achieved local prominence for his part in devising new governmental and penal codes and reorganizing the city university.

See also (in German) Niklaus von Brunn, Leichenrede bey der Beerdigung des Herrn Peter Ochs, 1821.