Fulvio Pelli (born 26 January 1951) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

politician. He was the last president of the

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

prior to its merger with the

Liberal Party of Switzerland french: Parti liberal suisse it, Partito Liberale Svizzero rm, Partida liberala svizra , logo = LPS.Logo.jpg , foundation = , dissolution = , merged = FDP.The Liberals , headquarters = Spitalgasse 32, Case postale 71073001 Bern , ideolo ...

. After the merger of the two parties, he served as the first president of FDP.The Liberals from 2009 to 2012. Pelli was a member of the Swiss National Council from 1995 to 2014. He served in the communal legislature of

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

from 1980 to 1990 and in the Grand Council of Ticino from 1983 to 1995.

Biography

Pelli was born in Aranno, in the Lugano District of

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

. His father, Ferruccio, was the mayor of Lugano to 16 years. He studied law in Zurich and worked as a lawyer in Lugano. In 1980, he gained a seat on the municipal council in Lugano, then was elected to the Grand Council of Ticino in 1983. He was active in party politics, taking over the cantonal presidency of the Free Democrats in 1988. In 1992, he also took on a vice presidency in the national party. He was elected to the National Council, representing Ticino, in 1995. He gave up his party posts in 2000 and became the leader of the Free Democrats delegation in the national council in 2002. In 2004, FDP president Christiane Langenberger announced that she would not run for another term as president. This precipitated a period in which the party had four presidents over an 18-month period with Rolf Schweiger and Marianne Kleiner taking the reins for a short time. Pelli ran against George Theiler and took 228 of 378 votes to win the presidency. After taking over, Pelli continued to work toward close cooperation of the Liberal Party in elections that had started under Langenberger. In 2005, both parties agreed for form a union of liberal parties in the various federal and cantonal assemblies. After poor results in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative elec ...

Liberal Party president Claude Ruey, formally proposed a merger of the two parties. The merger took place on January 1, 2009. Pelli was named the party president, while Isabelle Moret, Ruedi Noser, Vincenzo Pedrazzini. and Pierre Weiss, the former LP president, joined as vice presidents. In the

2011 Swiss federal election Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 23 October 2011. All of the Federal Assembly were to be elected: all 200 seats in the National Council and all 46 seats in the Council of States. Voter turnout was 49.1%, compared to 48.9% in ...

, his new merged party failed to make gains and lost one seat in the National Council. Pelli announced that he would not be a candidate for re-election as party president in 2012. He was succeeded by Philipp Müller. In addition to his political work, he was on the boards of Mobiliar Holding and

Banca dello Stato del Cantone Ticino Banca dello Stato del Cantone Ticino is a Swiss cantonal bank which is part of the 24 cantonal banks serving Switzerland's 26 cantons. Founded in 1915, Banca dello Stato del Cantone Ticino in 2014 had 21 branches across Ticino with 448 employee ...

. As of 2020, he was the chairman of the board of Banque Profil de Gestion, a Geneva-based private bank.

References

External links

Fulvio Pelli official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelli, Fulvio 1951 births Living people Members of the National Council (Switzerland) FDP.The Liberals politicians Free Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians People from Ticino University of Bern alumni