Kurt Furgler (24 June 1924 – 23 July 2008) was a Swiss politician and

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 ...

(1972–1986). He was elected to the

Federal Council of 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 ...

on 8 December 1971 and handed over office on 31 December 1986. 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 office time he held the following departments: *

Federal Department of Justice and Police The Federal Department of Justice and Police (, , , ) is one of the seven Ministry (government department), departments of the Switzerland, Swiss federal government, and is equivalent to a ministry of justice in other countries. As of 2024, it ...

(1972–1982) *

Federal Department of Economic Affairs The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER, ; ; ) is one of the seven departments of the federal government of Switzerland, headed by a Member of the Swiss Federal Council. The department was renamed from Federal ...

(1983–1986) He was President of the Confederation three times in 1977, 1981 and 1985. Kurt Furgler was born and raised in St. Gallen, Switzerland. He 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 ...

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, and was an avid

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

player during his youth. In 1948, he obtained his license to practice law in St. Gallen. As a conservative centrist in the

, he advocated equal rights for women, and initiated economic reforms and modernized immigration and Swiss family law. During his presidency, he argued for the European integration of Switzerland, and in 1982, signed the Luxembourg Declaration, which called for a closer cooperation between the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and the

European Free Trade Association The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. ...

(EFTA). Dr. Furgler demanded a strong central government but failed to establish a Swiss federal police due to strong opposition from the left and confederated forces of the right. In September 1982, he was the head of the special task force for the hostage situation in the Polish embassy in Bern. Controversially, he approved the clandestine copying of Polish diplomatic documents. In November 1985, he asserted his significant representative role in international relations when he welcomed the American president

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. was the Party leader, leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, country's dissoluti ...

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

at the Geneva Summit.Official Monthly Record of United States Foreign Policy / Volume 86 / Number 21 06
Internet Archive, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN. Retrieved March 10, 2016. Kurt Furgler resigned unexpectedly in 1986, but continued to serve in a number of committees, including the

Club of Rome The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing list of global issues, global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in R ...

, InterAction Council, and the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furgler, Kurt 1924 births 2008 deaths Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Presidents of the Swiss Confederation Justice ministers of Switzerland Politicians from St. Gallen (city) Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni Agriculture ministers of Switzerland