Samuel Mutach (baptized 24 December 1666 – 14 July 1735) was a jurist and politician from Bern. He was considered one of the most important jurists of his time and wrote the legal handbook Substantzlicher Underricht von Gerichts- und Rechts-Sachen (1709). From 1719 he was a member of Bern's Small Council.
Biography
Samuel Mutach was a member of the Mutach family. He was the son of Samuel, a member of the Grand Council, and Magdalena Wyss. He married Anna Katharina Gross, daughter of Gabriel, a member of the Grand Council, council secretary, and state secretary (Rats- und Staatsschreiber). His son Samuel (1690–1761) was a state secretary, and his nephew Gabriel (1702–1772) was, like him, a member of the Small Council.
From 1699 Mutach was a council expectant (Ratsexpektant), and in the Pietist trial of 1699 he was secretary of the religious commission (Religionskommission). From 1701 he was a member of the Grand Council, from 1706 bailiff (Landvogt) of Trachselwald, and from 1719 a member of the Small Council. He was considered one of the most important jurists of his time. He wrote Substantzlicher Underricht von Gerichts- und Rechts-Sachen (1709), a handbook on the legal system that gained great importance and is regarded as an important source for research on legal life in old Bern.
References
Bibliography B. von Rodt, Genealogien burgerlicher Geschlechter der Stadt Bern, 4 (manuscript, 1950, Burgerbibliothek Bern)