Thierry Paul Burkart (; born 21 August 1975) is a Swiss attorney and politician who currently serves as a member of the
Council of States (Switzerland)
The Council of States is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the other house being the National Council. As the powers of the houses are the same, it is sometimes called perfect bicameralism.
It comprises 46 members. Twenty of t ...
for
The Liberals since 2019. Concurrently Burkart serves as president of
The Liberals (Switzerland)
FDP.The Liberals (, , , ) is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Switzerland, political party in Switzerland.
The party was formed on 1 January 2009, after two parties, the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland, Free Democratic Part ...
. He previously served on the
National Council (Switzerland)
The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly (Switzerland), Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States (Switzerland), Council of States, represents the states, preventing mor ...
between 2015 and 2019. Further he was a member of the
Grand Council of Aargau between 2001 and 2015.
Early life and education
Burkart was born 21 August 1975 in
Baden, Switzerland
Baden (German language, German for "Thermal bath, baths"), sometimes unofficially, to distinguish it from Baden (disambiguation), other Badens, called Baden bei Zürich ("Baden near Zürich") or Baden im Aargau ("Baden in the Aargau"), is a town ...
to Beatrice Burkart, a teacher, and an Italian father whom he did not know personally. He has one elder brother and one sister, however his brother was kidnapped by their father when he went back to his native
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in 1978. His sister, Déborah Carlson-Burkart (
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 ...
Burkart; b. 1969), is a board member of
RUAG,
N26,
Visana as well as chair of
Alstom
Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...
. His maternal great-grandfather,
Josef Burkart, served as
chief justice,
landamann and member of the
Executive Council of Aargau.
He attended the ''Privatgymnasium Immensee'' where he 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 1993. Then 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 ...
at the
University of St. Gallen
The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is a research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland, that specialises in business administration, economics, law, international affairs, and computer science. It was established in 1898. It consistent ...
and the
University of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...
completing his studies with a
Licentiate degree
A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels.
The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universitie ...
in 2003 and in 2010 he was admitted to the
Bar of
Aargau
Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau.
Aargau is one of the most nort ...
. Between 2010 and 2012 he completed additional studies at the
University of Liechtenstein
The University of Liechtenstein (UniLi, ) is a national university located in Vaduz, the capital of the Principality of Liechtenstein. It focuses on two fields of study – architecture and business economics (entrepreneurship, finance, informat ...
with a exchange stay at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
graduating with a
Master of Laws (LLM).
Career
Between 2003 and 2005, Burkart completed a legal internship at ''Voser Attorneys KIG'' in
Baden, Switzerland
Baden (German language, German for "Thermal bath, baths"), sometimes unofficially, to distinguish it from Baden (disambiguation), other Badens, called Baden bei Zürich ("Baden near Zürich") or Baden im Aargau ("Baden in the Aargau"), is a town ...
. He briefly worked as a tax consultant for
Ernst & Young
EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
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 ...
between 2005 and 2007. Between 2007 and 2015 he worked for the law firm ''Bill & Isenegger'' where he became a partner in 2015. He returned to ''Voser'' where he stayed until 2021. Since 2021 he is a counsel at ''Kellerhals & Carrard'' in
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, where he specializes in
corporate law
Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corpora ...
,
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust (law), a legal relationship in which one person holds property for another's benefit
* Trust (bu ...
and
civil law.
Burkart is currently associated with a variety of companies. Namely he is a board member of Birchmeier Holding Ltd. (construction), ELCA Group SA (Information Technology), Bovida Real Estate Ltd. (real estate). He is also on the advisory board of
Stiebel Eltron as well as member of the board of trustees of
FSD (Fondation suisse de déminage) in
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 executive boards of
The Liberals (Switzerland)
FDP.The Liberals (, , , ) is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Switzerland, political party in Switzerland.
The party was formed on 1 January 2009, after two parties, the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland, Free Democratic Part ...
, FDP Campaign Association, PSI-Impuls Association, ASTAG (president), Allianz Sicherheit Schweiz, Verein Landesausstellung Svizra27. He is also the managing director of Bukart Advisory, LLC which is primarily active in
public affairs.
Politics
Between 1999 and 2003, Burkart served as president of the
Young Liberals Aargau. In 2001, he was elected into
Grand Council of Aargau, which he presided in 2014 and stayed on until 2015. Ultimately in the
2015 Swiss federal election
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 18 October 2015 for the National Council and the first round of elections to the Council of States, with runoff elections to the Council of States being held in various cantons until 22 November.
R ...
he was elected into
National Council assuming office on 30 November 2015. Since 2 December 2019 he serves as member of the
Council of States and concurrently as president of
The Liberals since 2021.
In June 2025, Burkhart announced he would resign from The Liberals in October.
Personal life
Today he resides in
Lengnau, Switzerland.
[ https://www.blick.ch/politik/turbulenzen-bei-der-fdp-liebes-aus-bei-thierry-burkart-id20796290.html ]
External links
Thierry Burkart on The Federal Assembly - The Swiss Parliament
Official Website of Thierry Burkart
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burkart, Thierry
1975 births
Living people
21st-century Swiss politicians
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians
Leaders of political parties in Switzerland
Members of the Council of States (Switzerland)
Place of birth missing (living people)
University of St. Gallen alumni
Yale University alumni
University of Lausanne alumni
21st-century Swiss lawyers