Doris Leuthard (born 10 April 1963) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a

Member of the Swiss Federal Council The seven members of the Federal Council (Switzerland), Swiss Federal Council (; ; ; ) constitute the federal government of Switzerland and collectively serve as the country's head of state. Each of the seven Federal Councillors heads a departm ...

from 2006 to 2018. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), she was elected 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 ...

for 2010 and 2017. Leuthard headed the Federal Department of Economic Affairs until 2010, when she became head of the

Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications The Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC, , , , ) is one of the seven departments of the Swiss federal government, headed by a member of the Swiss Federal Council. Organisation The department is compos ...

. As of 19 December 2019 she is a member of the board of the Kofi Annan Foundation and

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail AG is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an original emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams, but moving also into Rapid transit, mass rapid transit, High-speed rail, high speed, Inter-city rail, interci ...

Biography

Leuthard was a member of the Swiss National Council from 1999 to 2006 for the

canton of Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most northerly cantons of Switzerland, by th ...

. She presided over the Christian Democratic People's Party from 2004 to 2006. Following the resignation of Joseph Deiss from 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 ...

, Leuthard was elected as his successor on 14 June 2006. She received 133 out of 234 valid votes to become the 109th Federal Councillor. She is the fifth woman elected to the Federal Council. Her election represented a departure from a long precedent of replacing a Member of the Federal Council with someone from the same language group. While Deiss was a French speaker, Leuthard is a German speaker. Bundesrat der Schweiz 2017

From 1 August 2006 until 31 October 2010, she was head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs. On 1 November 2010 she became head of the

, succeeding Moritz Leuenberger. For the calendar year 2009, Leuthard was elected Vice President of the Swiss Confederation, virtually assuring her election as President of the Confederation for the calendar year 2010. Due to a large amount of turnover on the Federal Council in recent years, she was the longest-serving Federal Councillor not to have served as the body's president. She was elected President of the Confederation for 2010 and 2017. She became the third woman to hold the post, after Ruth Dreifuss (1999) and Micheline Calmy-Rey (2007). As President of the Confederation, Leuthard presided over meetings of the Federal Council and carried out representative functions that would normally be handled by a

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

in other democracies (though in Switzerland, the Federal Council as a whole is regarded as the head of state). She was also the highest-ranking official in the

Swiss order of precedence The Swiss order of precedence is a hierarchy of important positions within the government of Switzerland. It has no legal standing but is used by ceremonial protocol. The order of precedence is determined by the Protocol Regulations and the Ta ...

and had the power to act on behalf of the whole Federal Council in emergency situations. However, in most cases, Leuthard was merely ''

primus inter pares is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. H ...

'', with no power above and beyond her six colleagues. She was succeeded by Calmy-Rey in 2011, the first time two women held the office in succession. Following a reshuffle of portfolios after the by-election of two new Federal Councillors in 2010, Leuthard replaced outgoing Moritz Leuenberger at the head of the

. In her capacity as minister, she was appointed by United Nations Secretary General

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

in 2018 to the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, co-chaired by Melinda Gates and

Jack Ma Ma Yun (; born 10 September 1964), or more commonly referred as Jack Ma, is a Chinese businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of the Jack Ma Foundation, and co-founder of Alibaba Group and Yunfeng Capital. As of May 2025, Ma's ne ...

.Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, press release of 12 July 2018. The project ''SAFFA 2020'' is under the patronage of the three Federal Councillors: Leuthard,

Simonetta Sommaruga Simonetta Myriam Sommaruga (born 14 May 1960) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2010 to 2022. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), she was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2015 and ...

and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, as well as by the former Federal Councillor Calmy-Rey. In July 2022, Swiss media reported that Doris Leuthard was the victim of aggression by her husband in their vacation home in

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 ...

with a knife. Her husband has been detained in a psychiatric prison by the Swiss police because of the chance of recidivism and

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

References

External links

* *
Address by Doris Leuthard (as President of Switzerland)
at the General Debate of the 65th Session of the

General Assembly of the United Nations The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

, 23 September 2010: video (in French)
written translation of the statement into English
* , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Leuthard, Doris 1963 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Swiss women politicians 21st-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Swiss women politicians 21st-century women presidents Aargau politicians Agriculture ministers of Switzerland Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland politicians Female heads of state Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Presidents of the Swiss Confederation Ministers of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of Switzerland Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 1999–2003 Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2003–2007 People from Muri District Swiss Roman Catholics University of Zurich alumni Women members of the National Council (Switzerland) Women members of the Federal Council (Switzerland)

Biography

See also

References

External links