Moritz Leuenberger
Moritz Leuenberger (born 21 September 1946) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1995 to 2010 and President of the Confederation in 2001 and in 2006.
Moritz Leuenberger | |
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Member of the Swiss Federal Council | |
In office 1 January 1995 – 1 November 2010 | |
Preceded by | Otto Stich |
Succeeded by | Simonetta Sommaruga |
President of Switzerland | |
In office 1 January 2001 – 31 December 2001 | |
Vice President | Kaspar Villiger |
Preceded by | Adolf Ogi |
Succeeded by | Kaspar Villiger |
In office 1 January 2006 – 31 December 2006 | |
Vice President | Micheline Calmy-Rey |
Preceded by | Samuel Schmid |
Succeeded by | Micheline Calmy-Rey |
Head of the Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications | |
In office 1 January 1995 – 1 November 2010 | |
Preceded by | Adolf Ogi |
Succeeded by | Doris Leuthard |
Vice President of Switzerland | |
In office 1 January 2010 – 1 November 2010 | |
President | Doris Leuthard |
Preceded by | Doris Leuthard |
Succeeded by | Micheline Calmy-Rey |
In office 1 January 2005 – 31 December 2005 | |
President | Samuel Schmid |
Preceded by | Samuel Schmid |
Succeeded by | Micheline Calmy-Rey |
In office 1 January 2000 – 1 December 2000 | |
President | Adolf Ogi |
Preceded by | Adolf Ogi |
Succeeded by | Kaspar Villiger |
Personal details | |
Born | Biel, Switzerland | 21 September 1946
Political party | Social Democratic Party |
Spouse(s) | Gret Loewensberg |
Leuenberger was elected to the Federal Council on 27 September 1995 as a member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS) from the Canton of Zürich. From 1991 to 1995, he was a member of the government of the Canton of Zurich.
Since 1995, Leuenberger has headed the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (Environment and Communications were added to the name of the department in 1998).
Leuenberger has been married to architect Gret Loewensberg since 2003.
At a ceremony in Brussels, the Community of European Railways and Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes presented the 2009 European Railway Awards on 20 January 2009. Leuenberger was presented with the Political Award for his work to build and maintain a sustainable transportation policy.[1][2]
On 9 July 2010 Leuenberger announced he would leave the Federal Council as of 31 December 2010.[3] At this time Hans-Rudolf Merz had been expected to resign as well and there were talks between the two about resigning together. Leuenberger's resignation came as a complete surprise.[4] One month later, on 6 August 2010, Hans-Rudolf Merz also announced his resignation for October.[5] This led to the situation that the parliament would have had to elect a new Federal Councillor both in September and November. To avoid this situation, Leuenberger then announced he would change his resignation to allow for just one election for both new Councillors.[6]
Works
References
- "European rail sector celebrates European Railway Award 2009" (PDF) (Press release). CER and UNIFE. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
- "Leuenberger picks up railway award". Swissinfo. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
- "Long-serving Swiss cabinet minister resigns". Swissinfo. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- "Leuenberger durchkreuzt Merz' Pläne". NZZ. 11 July 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- "Embattled finance minister bows out". Swissinfo. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- "Bundesratsrücktritte als Ärgernis". NZZ. 10 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
External links
- Profile of Moritz Leuenberger with election results on the website of the Swiss Federal Council.
- Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications
- Moritz Leuenberger in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- (in German) Leuenberger's own blog site
- Business activities of Moritz Leuenberger, databot.ch (in German)
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moritz Leuenberger. |
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Otto Stich |
Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1995–2010 |
Succeeded by Simonetta Sommaruga |
Preceded by Adolf Ogi |
President of the Confederation 2001 |
Succeeded by Kaspar Villiger |
Preceded by Samuel Schmid |
President of the Confederation 2006 |
Succeeded by Micheline Calmy-Rey |