huldrych (or ulrich) zwingli or ulricus zuinglius (january 1, 1484 – october 11, 1531) was the leader of the protestant reformation in switzerland, and founder of the swiss reformed churches. separately from martin luther, zwingli arrived with similar final beliefs. he did this by studying the bible from the point of view of a humanist scholar. zwingli's father was named ulrich zwingli also and his mother was named margaret meili. zwingli had 2 sisters and 7 brothers.