Combine Two Recursive Functions To Create One Recursive Selection Sort Function

[Serafim]

Note: Your functions are iterative, not recursive. @deanhystad is right there. A recursive function to find the smallest element in your list would, as @deanhystad pointed out, call itself, like this implementation of "find_the_smallest_element" (from my first solution):

def find_the_smallest_element(lst):
    def inner(lst, el):
        if not lst:
            return el
        elif lst[0] < el:
            return inner(lst[1:], lst[0])
        else:
            return inner(lst[1:], el)

Where the recursion takes place in the embedded function "inner", still the same simplicity: (a) how do we take a step to a solution and (b) how do we know when to stop (even if the stop condition mostly occurs as the first branch).