Achille Casanova (2 October 1941 – 17 July 2016)
was a Swiss journalist and politician. He held the office of
Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland between 1981 and 2005, and during this time became the first official
spokesman for the
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...
when that role was created on 1 September 2000.
Early life and education
Born in
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
in 1941 but originating from the Italian-speaking
canton Ticino
Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...
, he first attended school in
Lugano
Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...
, before studying
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
at the universities of
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
and
Fribourg
or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...
. He began working as a journalist for the
national press agency of Switzerland, before joining the
Swiss Italian Television RSI in 1966.
Career
During his tenure, Achille Casanova worked with 26 different Federal Councillors (out of 108 ever elected by the time of his resignation), participated in over 1180 Federal Council sessions, and officiated under three different Chancellors.
While he was a candidate for the office twice himself, the
Swiss Federal Assembly elected other candidates every time.
Fluent in German, French, Italian and English, his resignation sparked a minor row over language representation within the Swiss Federal government, when his successor,
Oswald Sigg, was named over several candidates from Swiss-French and Swiss-Italian regions. This was compounded by the fact that his office (the second Vice-chancellor, in charge of the Information & Communication sector) had initially been created in 1895 on an ad hoc basis, to add a senior representative of the French and Italian speaking regions when both the Chancellor and the other Vice-chancellors came from German-speaking cantons.
After retiring from office in 2005, he joined the
Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG as its
Ombudsman
An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...
.
In January 2006, he was appointed Chairman of the
International Balzan Prize Foundation.
Personal life
Casanova was married and a father to two grown-up children.
Casanova died on 17 July 2016 after a serious illness. He was 74 years old.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casanova
1941 births
2016 deaths
Swiss television journalists
Swiss politicians
Politicians from Zurich