Daniel Reuwen Jositsch (; born 25 March 1965) is a Swiss attorney and politician who currently serves on the Council of States for the Social Democratic Party representing the

Canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

since 2015. He previously served on the National Council from 2007 to 2015. He briefly served on the

Cantonal Council of Zürich The Cantonal Council of Zürich () is the legislature of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Zürich, Zürich, in Switzerland. Zürich has a unicameral legislature. The Cantonal Council has 180 seats, with members elected every four ...

before resigning from the post in the fall of 2007. In 2022 and 2023 he declared candidacy for Federal Council but both times was not officially nominated by his party.

Early life and education

Jositsch was born 25 March 1965 in Zürich, Switzerland to Peter Jositsch, an engineer and Edith (

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 ...

Korek) Jositsch, a homemaker. He is of

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

descent from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

on both his paternal and maternal side. His paternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Josselowitsch, became a Swiss citizen in 1913 by taking municipal citizenship in

Geroldswil Geroldswil is a municipality in the district of Dietikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley. History Geroldswil is first mentioned in 1255 as ''Geroltzwiler''. Geography Geroldswil has an area of . Of this ...

. There were several variants on the spelling of his last name including ''Joselowitz'' and ''Josselowitsch'' which were both germanized to Jositsch at a later stage. Upon his election campaign for Council of States, Jositsch stated the following about his origins: Jositsch was raised in the Limmat Valley and 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 ...

in 1984 at Kantonsschule Stadelhofen. He studied law at the University of St. Gallen.

Career

In 2004 he qualified as a professor 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 ...

, and was appointed as Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal auxiliary sciences. In 2012, Jositsch was promoted by the university council to full professor.

Politics

In spring 2007 Jositsch was elected as a member of the SP Zürich in the parliament of the

, and since October 2007 he was a member of the Swiss National Council. In the first round of the 2015 Council of States elections in the canton of Zürich, Jositsch won the majority, and for the first time since 32 years, an SP politician will represent the canton of Zürich in the Swiss Council of States (''Ständerat''). During the 2023 Swiss federal election, Jositsch had been an opposition candidate, to succeed Alain Berset 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 ...

, however was not officially nominated by the Social Democratic Party. Despite this he received a respectable number of votes (presumably from the

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...

and The Liberals) running competitively (second with 70 votes) against the official candidates Jon Pult and Beat Jans. Ultimately, Beat Jans, was elected into office on 13 December 2023. His actions are often titled ''The Jositsch Coup'' by press.

Personal life

Daniel Jositsch is divorced and father of a son. He was in a relationship with Chantal Galladé. End of October 2015 Jositsch announced to stand for the five-person chairmanship of the Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich (ICZ), the largest Jewish community in Switzerland, on 2 December 2015. The candidacy is a private commitment without a professional or political context.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jositsch, Daniel 1965 births Living people Members of the Council of States (Switzerland) Politicians from Zurich Academic staff of the University of Zurich Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians University of St. Gallen alumni People from Dietikon District Geroldswil People from Stäfa 20th-century jurists 21st-century scholars Swiss jurists Swiss educational theorists 20th-century Swiss historians Swiss male writers 21st-century Swiss Jews Jewish Swiss politicians 21st-century Swiss historians 20th-century Swiss politicians Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2007–2011 Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2011–2015 Candidates for the Federal Council (Switzerland)