Alphons Blasius Egli colloquially Alphons Egli (8 October 1924 – 5 August 2016) was a Swiss attorney and politician who most notably served on the

Federal Council (Switzerland) The Federal Council is the federal Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and Head of government, government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the F ...

between 1983 and 1987 and as

President of the Swiss Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the confederation, federal president or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is as ''primus inter pares'' among the other members of the Federal Council (Switze ...

in 1986 for the Christian Democratic People's Party.

Early life and education

Alphons Blasius Egli was born 8 October 1924 in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, Switzerland, the fifth of six children, to Gotthard Egli (1884–1979), an attorney and politician, and Lea Egli (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Amrhyn). He was raised in a Catholic family on Musegg (abutting the old city walls). Two of his siblings died in early childhood. He had three surviving sisters; Lea Korner (née Egli), Elisabeth Egli and Beatrix Egli. He was educated in the local schools upon completition of

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. He then was sent to boarding schools, including Engelberg Abbey School and the

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

School of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune in

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

. He completed his

Matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

at the Cantonal School of Lucerne. He then studied

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

, the

University of Berne The University of Bern (, , ) is a public research university in the Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and progra ...

and the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in Rome, Italy.

Political career

He was affiliated to the

Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (, CVP), also called the Christian Democratic Party (, PDC), Democratic People's Party (, PPD) and Swiss Christian Democratic Party (, PCD), was a Christian democracy, Christian democratic Li ...

. During his time in office he held the

Federal Department of Home Affairs The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA, , , , ) is a department of the federal administration of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss ministry of the interior. Since 2024, it is headed by Federal Councillor Élisabeth Baume-Schneider. Or ...

and was President of the Confederation in 1986. Egli was a

citizen Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality ...

Entlebuch Entlebuch is a municipality in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district of Entlebuch. The area has been designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2001. History Entlebuch is first mentioned in 1157, as ''Entilibuoch ...

and

Personal life

Egli was married to Heidi Mäder, a daughter of Emil Mäder (1875–1936), of St. Gallen, who also served on the

National Council (Switzerland) The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly (Switzerland), Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States (Switzerland), Council of States, represents the states, preventing mor ...

. They had three children; * Franziska Egli, married Pierre Peyer, with issue. * Barbara Egli, married Werner Pfäffli, no issue. * Cyrill Egli, married Gabriela "Gabi" Bucher, with issue. He died on 5 August 2016, aged 91.Former Swiss President Alphons Egli dead at 91
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References

External links

* * * Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Presidents of the Swiss Confederation Interior ministers of Switzerland 1924 births 2016 deaths People from Lucerne Swiss Roman Catholics 20th-century Swiss politicians University of Bern alumni {{Switzerland-politician-stub