Viktor Rossi (born 31 October 1968) is a Swiss politician and civil servant. A member of the Green Liberal Party, he became

Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland The vice-chancellor of Switzerland was initially named Federal Secretary (''Bundesschreiber''). The title of the Vice-Chancellor was established in 1851, first as Federal Chancellor Deputy, then formally as Vice-Chancellor in 1881. In order to pro ...

on 1 May 2019. On 13 December 2023, he was elected

Federal Chancellor of Switzerland The federal chancellor is the head of the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland, the oldest Swiss federal institution, established at the initiative of Napoleon in 1803. The officeholder acts as the general staff of the seven-member Federal Counc ...

, succeeding

Walter Thurnherr Walter Thurnherr (born 11 July 1963) is a Swiss government official who served as Chancellor of Switzerland from 2016 to 2023. Although he holds a traditionally nonpartisan office, he was elected as a member of the Christian Democratic People's ...

, and took office on 1 January 2024.

Biography

Rossi attended primary and secondary school in the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

, apprenticed as a cook between 1984 and 1987, obtained a

maturity diploma 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 economics at the Private school Humboldtianum 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 ...

, before attaining a teacher's degree in Law and Economics at

Bern University The University of Bern (, , ) is a public research university in the Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and progra ...

in 1996. After graduating, he started teaching Trade at the commercial school (BFB) in

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

, before leading the school in 1999. In parallel, he was at first vice-president of the conference of rectors of commercial schools in the

Canton Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the canton, displayed on a red-yellow ba ...

between 2004 and 2009, then president in 2009. In 2015, he completed a diploma of Advanced Studies in Law at Bern University. Rossi joined the

Federal Chancellery of Switzerland The Federal Chancellery of Switzerland is a department-level agency of the federal administration of Switzerland. It is the staff organisation of the federal government, the Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council. Since 2024, it has bee ...

in October 2010, leading the Records Management and Logistics department. In 2015, he was Federal Chancellor

's delegate supervisor for the IT project GENOVA. In December 2018, the

Federal Council Federal Council may refer to: Governmental bodies * Federal Council of Australasia, a forerunner to the current Commonwealth of Australia * Federal Council of Austria, the upper house of the Austrian federal parliament * Federal Council of German ...

elected Rossi

. He took office on 1 May 2019 and has been leading the Federal Council's affairs. He entered the race to succeed Walter Thurnherr at the end of 2023 to fill the position of Chancellor of the Confederation. He was elected on 13 December. His predecessor,

Jörg De Bernardi Jörg De Bernardi (born September 13, 1973) is a Swiss diplomat and politician. He held the office of Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland between August 2016 and December 2018 and is currently serving as acting Vice-Chancellor, in charge of the Feder ...

, took over his post ad interim. Rossi is a native German and Italian speaker. He is married and a father of two.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Viktor 1968 births Living people Politicians from Bern 21st-century Swiss politicians Green Liberal Party of Switzerland politicians Federal chancellors of Switzerland University of Bern alumni