Antoine Favre

Antoine Favre was born in 1897 in Sion, Canton of Valais. After obtaining the licence ès lettres from the Sorbonne in Paris he read law at the University of Freiburg i.Ü. and Humboldt University in Berlin. In 1926 he received his doctorate in Freiburg i.Ü. After being admitted to the bar in the Canton of Valais, he worked as an attorney in Sion.

From 1930 to 1972 he taught Swiss and international public law and collection and bankruptcy law at the University of Freiburg i.Ü. – from 1932 as full professor. He published several works of foundational importance in these areas. From 1943 – 1952 he was a member of the National Council. In 1952 he was appointed as federal judge. Antoine Favre became the first Swiss judge in Strasbourg when Switzerland joined the Council of Europe in 1963, thereby obtaining a seat in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). He resigned as ECHR justice in 1974, and as federal judge in 1976. From 1967 he was Honorary Senator at the University of Freiburg i.Ü.

Extract from: Constitutional rights and the international guarantee of human rights (Part 1 C. 3.4)