Bernhard Christ (born 9 December 1942 in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

) is a Swiss

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. Among other roles, he served as President of the Grand Council of the Canton of

Basel-Stadt Canton of Basel-Stadt or Basel-City ( ; ; ; ) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as the capital. It is traditionally considered a " half-canton", the other half being B ...

and was president of the

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Decl ...

foundation for 40 years. He is known for having translated and commented the ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

'' of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

Life

Lawyer

Bernhard Christ attended the gymnasium at Münsterplatz and studied at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

, where he also earned his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

. Among other achievements, he was the lawyer for Firestone Switzerland Ltd in the sensational

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

following the closure of the tire factory in

Pratteln Pratteln (Swiss German: ''Brattele'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, located in the district of Liestal. History Pratteln is first mentioned around 1102-03 as ''Bratello''. Geography Pratteln has an area, ...

. The trial was about

payments A payment is the tender of something of value, such as money or its equivalent, by one party (such as a person or company) to another in exchange for goods or services provided by them, or to fulfill a legal obligation or philanthropy desire. ...

for the 600 workers who had been

laid off A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization ...

. He later worked as a senior partner at the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

Vischer in Basel.

Politician

As a politician, Bernhard Christ was a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt from 6 November 1979 to 30 April 1988 and from 11 May 1992 to 31 January 2003, and on 10 May 1984 elected President of the Grand Council. He was also a member of the canton's constitutional council from 1999 to 2005, president of the Constitutional Council, a member of the cantonal education council and of the board of the Reformed Church and of several charitable foundations.

Translator

Bernhard Christ's translation of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' was published in 2021 to mark the 700th

anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the List of national independence days, date of independen ...

of the death of the poet by Schwabe, Christ translated the text into prose. In the review by Ulrich Klappstein of Bernhard Christ's translation, the controversy of translating into verse or prose is discussed.

Family

Bernhard Christ has been married to Marie-Isabelle de Pury since 1975, and has three adult children and six grandchildren.

Publications

* ''Die Basler Stadtgerichtsordnung von 1719 als Abschluss der Rezeption in Basel'', Basel and Stuttgart 1971 (Dissertation) * ''Das Kontrollrecht des Kommanditärs, Juristischen Fakultät der Universität Basel'', Basel and Stuttgart, 1973, Festgabe zum Schweizerischen Juristentag 1975 * ''Der Darlehensvertrag'', in: ''Schweizerisches Privatrecht, Obligationenrecht, Besondere Vertragsverhältnisse'', Basel and Stuttgart 1979, Band VII, 2, Frank Vischer (Hrsg.) * ''Staatsrechtsgeschichtliche Anmerkungen zu einem Eidgenössischen Staatskalender aus dem Jahre 1718'', Basel 1981, Festgabe Adolf Sebass * ''Reden des Präsidenten des Grossen Rates 1984/85'', Basel, 1986, LDP Schriftenreihe 4 * ''Der Grosse Rat von Basel-Stadt'', in: Paul Stadlin (Hrsg.) ''Die Parlamente der schweizerischen Kantone'', Zug 1990 * (zusammen mit Markus Kutter)
''Liberale Politik - eine Standortbestimmung''
1. Ausgabe 1992, 2. Ausgabe 2014 (publication of the Liberal-Demokratic Party of the canton

) * ''Die Loslösung der alten Eidgenossenschaft vom Heiligen Römischen Reich Deutscher Nation'', Basel, 2000. In: ''Wettstein, die Schweiz und Europa'', Historisches Museum Basel (Hrsg.), Basel 1998 * ''Symposium für Frank Vischer'', herausgegeben von Bernhard Christ und Ernst A. Kramer. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 2005 * ''Basler Denkmalschutzrecht im Vollzug'', in: ''25 Jahre Basler Denkmalschutzgesetz – Ein kritischer Rückblick'' (Freiwillige Denkmalpflege, 2004 -2208) Basel 2008 * ''Der Willensvollstrecker Art. 517 und 518 ZGB'', in: ''Praxiskommentar Erbrecht'', Daniel Abt/Thomas Weibel, Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag, Basel 2009; 5. Aufl. 2023 * (translator and commentator) ''Dante Alighieri, Commedia, übertragen und erläutert von Bernhard Christ'', Schwabe Verlag, Basel/Berlin 2021, ISBN 978-3-7965-4420-0

Awards

* 2008: Honorary doctorate from the faculty of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the

* 2018: Karl Barth Prize of the Union of Protestant Churches in the EKD in Germany

Memberships

* Karl Barth Foundation, Director from 1984 to 2024 * E. E. Zunft zum Schlüssel (Basel), Guild master from 1986 to 1998 * Liberal-Demokratic Party (Basel-Stadt): Parliamentary party spokesman in the Great Council * Basel Historical Museum: Member from 1973/4, President under two directors in succession * State Commission for the Historical Museum Basel (Supervisory Board of the HMB): Member * Sophie and Karl Binding Foundation: Member of the Board of Trustees since 1986 and its chairman from 1997 to 2013''History of the Sophie and Karl Binding Foundation (1963 bis 2023)'', p. 4 (PDF in German). Source
Website of the Sophie and Karl Binding Foundation – About us
/ref> * Hansa AG: President of the

Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

External links

* ''Bernhard Christ: 80 years in the service of our “res publica”''
bz 08.12.2022
Retrieved 30 September 2024. * ''Christ-de Pury, Bernhard''. In
''Base de données des élites suisses''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christ, Bernhard 1942 births People from Basel-Stadt Swiss lawyers Swiss translators Translators of Dante Alighieri Living people University of Basel alumni 21st-century Swiss politicians 21st-century Swiss lawyers