Moritz Leuenberger

Moritz Leuenberger
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 Federal 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	21 September 1946 Bienne, Switzerland
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Gret Loewensberg

Moritz Leuenberger (born 21 September 1946 in Biel/Bienne, Canton of Bern) is a Swiss politician, lawyer, was a member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1995 to 2010 and President of the Confederation in 2001 and in 2006.

Leuenberger was elected to the Federal Council on 27 September 1995 as a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPS/PSS) 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

• Die Rose und der Stein : Grundwerte in der Tagespolitik: Reden und Texte, Zürich 2002. ISBN 3-85791-399-1
• Träume und Traktanden - Reden und Texte, 6. Aufl., Zürich 2002. ISBN 3-85791-348-7

References

1. "European rail sector celebrates European Railway Award 2009" (PDF) (Press release). CER and UNIFE. January 20, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
2. "Leuenberger picks up railway award". Swissinfo. January 20, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
3. "Long-serving Swiss cabinet minister resigns". Swissinfo. July 9, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
4. "Leuenberger durchkreuzt Merz' Pläne". NZZ. July 11, 210. Retrieved August 10, 2010. Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. "Embattled finance minister bows out". Swissinfo. August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
6. "Bundesratsrücktritte als Ärgernis". NZZ. August 10, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 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.

• (German) Leuenberger's own blog site
• Business activities of Moritz Leuenberger, databot.ch (German)