Moritz Leuenberger (born 21 September 1946) 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 1995 to 2010. A member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SP/PS), he was

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 ...

in 2001 and 2006. Leuenberger headed 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 ...

for the whole of his tenure as a Federal Councillor.

Career

A lawyer by occupation, Moritz Leuenberger managed his firm in

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 ...

until 1991. He was successively elected to the Zürich City Council (1974–1983), National Council (1979–1995) and Zürich Cantonal Government (1991–1995), where he headed the Department of Home Affairs and Justice. He presided over

Mieterverband Mieterverband, meaning the association of the Leasehold estate, tenants and commonly shortened to ''MV'', is a Switzerland, Swiss nonprofit organization that was founded in 1915 in Zürich. Its full and political correct name is Mieterinnen- und ...

, the Swiss tenants' association, from 1972 to 1991. Leuenberger was elected to the Federal Council on 27 September 1995 as a member of the

, succeeding

Otto Stich Otto Anton Stich (10 January 1927 – 13 September 2012) was a Swiss professor and politician. He served as a member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1984 to 1995 and held the President of the Swiss Confederation, Swiss presidency in 1988 and 199 ...

. He became head of the

; the name of the department was changed in 1998 to incorporate the term "Environment". At a ceremony in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, the Community of European Railways and

Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes UNIFE (), or ''The European Rail Supply Industry Association'', is an association of Europe's rail supply companies active in the design, manufacture, maintenance and refurbishment of rail transport systems, subsystems and related equipment. UNI ...

presented the 2009 European Railway Awards on 20 January 2009. Leuenberger was presented with the Political Award for his work to build and maintain a sustainable transportation policy. On 9 July 2010, Leuenberger announced he would leave the Federal Council as of 31 December 2010. At this time

Hans-Rudolf Merz Hans-Rudolf Merz (; born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss politician who served as President of the Swiss Confederation, President of Switzerland in 2009. He concurrently served as a member of the Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council from 20 ...

had been expected to resign as well and there were talks between the two about resigning together. Leuenberger's resignation however came as a surprise. One month later, on 6 August 2010, Merz also announced his resignation for October. This led to the situation that the parliament would have had to elect a new Federal Councillor both in September and November. To avoid this situation, Leuenberger then announced he would change his resignation to allow for just one election for both new Federal Councillors.

Personal life

Moritz Leuenberger is the son of theologian Robert Leuenberger. He has been married to architect Gret Loewensberg since 2003 and has two sons.

Works

*''Die Rose und der Stein : Grundwerte in der Tagespolitik: Reden und Texte'', Zürich 2002. *''Träume und Traktanden – Reden und Texte'', 6. Aufl., Zürich 2002.

References

External links

*
Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications
*
Leuenberger's own blog site

databot.ch , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Leuenberger, Moritz 1946 births Living people Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Presidents of the Swiss Confederation Ministers of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of Switzerland People from Biel/Bienne Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Swiss Protestants