Background
Druey was born in Faoug in the Canton of Vaud. The son of Jean-Daniel, innkeeper, and Suzanne Catherine Langel. In 1948 he was elected to the Federal Council.
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
Druey was born in Faoug in the Canton of Vaud. The son of Jean-Daniel, innkeeper, and Suzanne Catherine Langel. In 1948 he was elected to the Federal Council.
After getting a law degree from Lausanne University (1820) he continued his studies in Germany, where he was influenced by german philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, then in Paris where he made acquaintance with such prominent men of the time as François-René de Chateaubriand and Benjamin Constant. After a short stay in England he went back to Lausanne. Druey finished his attorney training in 1826 in Lausanne.
In 1828 started working as a lawyer in Moudon in his own practice. In 1830 he worked in Vaud as an appeals court judge. His political career began in 1828 when he was chosen to the Great Council of Vaud. After the liberal revolution of 1830 he was elected to the Vaud State Council (1831-48). In the same year he married Caroline Burnand but the couple never had children. Here he fought for the revision of the 1815 Federal Treaty by a constitutional council. His radical ideas isolated him in the cantonal government which led to his exclusion from the Swiss Parliament in 1833-38. When Druey returned to Switzerland, aged 29, he was chosen to sit on the Canton of Vaud's Great Council. Two years later he became a member of the State Council.
Druey was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on November 16, 1848, as one of the seven initial members. During his time in office he headed the following departments:
Department of Justice and Police (1848–1849)
Political Department (1850) as President of the Confederation
Department of Finance (1851)
Department of Justice and Police (1852)
Department of Finance (1853–1855)
He was President of the Confederation in 1850.