Simonetta Myriam Sommaruga (born 14 May 1960) is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2010. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), she was

President of the Swiss Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council, the country's executive branch. Elected by ...

in 2015 and 2020. A former director of the Consumer Protection Foundation, which merged into the Swiss Alliance of Consumer Organisations in 2010, Sommaruga has headed the

Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications The Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation, french: Département fédéral de l'environnement, des transports, de l'én ...

since 2019, previously heading the

Federal Department of Justice and Police The Federal Department of Justice and Police (german: Eidgenössisches Justiz- und Polizeidepartement, french: Département fédéral de justice et police, it, Dipartimento federale di giustizia e polizia, rm, ) is one of the seven departmen ...

(2010–2018). She served as Vice President of Switzerland for 2014 and 2019. Sommaruga assumed the role of

in 2015, before returning to the position in 2020. She resides in the canton of Bern.

Biography

Early life

Born in Zug, Sommaruga grew up with two brothers and a sister in

Sins In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

, Aargau. She attended the gymnasium at Immensee,

Schwyz The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ' ...

and trained as a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

at the

Lucerne School of Music The Lucerne School of Music (''Hochschule Luzern – Musik'') is a professional school for musicians located in Lucerne, Switzerland, and closely associated with the city's annual music festival. It is a division of the Lucerne University of Appli ...

of Lucerne University. From 1988 to 1991, she attended

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Romance studies Romance studies or Romance philology ( an, filolochía romanica; ca, filologia romànica; french: romanistique; eo, latinida filologio; it, filologia romanza; pt, filologia românica; ro, romanistică; es, filología románica) is an acade ...

at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisi ...

, but did not graduate.

Professional career

Sommaruga held the directorship of the Consumer Protection Foundation (German: Stiftung für Konsumentenschutz) from 1993 to 1999, which earned her public recognition in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, where it was active. She held the presidency of that foundation from 2000 to 2010, as well as that of the aid organisation Swissaid from 2003 to 2008. She was also patron of ''SAFFA 2020'', alongside then-Federal Councillors Doris Leuthard and

Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (born 16 March 1956) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2008 to 2015. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) until 2008, she has since then been a member of t ...

, as well as former Federal Councillor

Micheline Calmy-Rey Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey (born 8 July 1945) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), she was the head of the Federal Department of Foreign ...

Political career

Sommaruga's political career began as a member of the

Grand Council of Bern The Grand Council (german: Grosser Rat, french: Grand conseil) is the parliament of the Swiss canton of Bern. It consists of 160 members (as of 2006) elected by proportional representation for a four-year term of office. The French-speaking part ...

from 1981 to 1990. She served in the municipal government of

Köniz Köniz (, ) is a statistical town, however considers itself still as a village, and a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district right on the southern border to Bern in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The municipality of K ...

from 1997 to 2005. In 1999, she was elected to the National Council; in 2003 she became a member of the Federal Assembly's upper house, the Council of States, representing the canton of Bern. On 11 August 2010, she announced her candidacy to succeed fellow party member

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. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 20 ...

, who had announced his resignation, in the upcoming election to the Federal Council. Sommaruga was elected by the Federal Assembly on 22 September 2010. She was eventually elected for a full four-year term in 2011, before successfully seeking reelection in 2015 and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. On 4 December 2013, Sommaruga was elected as Vice President of Switzerland by the Federal Assembly for 2014, alongside Didier Burkhalter, who was elected

. On 3 December 2014, she was elected to the presidency for 2015, alongside

Johann Schneider-Ammann Johann Niklaus Schneider-Ammann (born Schneider, 18 February 1952) is a Swiss businessman and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2010 to 2018. A member of FDP.The Liberals, he was President of the Swiss Confeder ...

as Vice President of Switzerland. Her first international presidential trip was to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where she joined the

Republican marches The Republican marches (french: Marches républicaines) were a series of rallies that took place in cities across France on 10–11 January 2015 to honour the victims of the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting, the Montrouge shooting and the Porte de Vi ...

of 11 January 2015, organised to defend freedom of speech following the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting perpetrated by Islamic terrorists. She served as President of the Confederation until 31 December 2015, when Schneider-Ammann succeeded her. On 1 January 2019, she returned to the vice presidency under President

Ueli Maurer Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer (; born 1 December 1950) is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2009. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2013 and 2019 ...

. Sommaruga became President of the Swiss Confederation again in 2020, a year marked by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. She was succeeded by

Guy Parmelin Guy Bernard Parmelin (; born 9 November 1959) is a Swiss politician, who served as president of Switzerland in 2021, having previously served as vice president of Switzerland in 2020. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he has been ...

on 1 January 2021. On 2 November 2022, she announced her upcoming resignation from the Federal Council. She stated the decision had come abruptly following a stroke suffered by her husband.

Personal life

Sommaruga, who is married to writer Lukas Hartmann, lives in Spiegel near Bern. She is a distant relative of

Cornelio Sommaruga Cornelio Sommaruga (born December 29, 1932 in Rome) is a Swiss humanitarian, lawyer and diplomat who is best known for being President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1987 to 1999. Today, he chairs the Geneva Internati ...

and fellow politician of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland Carlo Sommaruga.

Publications

* ''Für eine moderne Schweiz. Ein praktischer Reformplan'', with Rudolf Strahm, Nagel & Kimche, Munich, 2005, * , 10 May 2001

References

External links

* *
Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sommaruga, Simonetta 1960 births 20th-century Swiss people 21st-century Swiss politicians 21st-century Swiss women politicians Female heads of state Living people Members of the Council of States (Switzerland) Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) People from Zug Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians University of Fribourg alumni Women members of the Council of States (Switzerland) Women members of the National Council (Switzerland) Women members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Female justice ministers Simonetta