Simonetta Sommaruga


Simonetta Myriam Sommaruga is a Swiss politician serving as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2020. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she has been a Member of the Federal Council since 2010. Sommaruga has served as head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications since 2019 and previously was head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police. She served as Vice President of the Federal Council for the year 2014; in 2015 Sommaruga assumed the role of President of the Swiss Confederation. Subsequently, she returned to the council's presidency in 2020.

Biography

Early life

Born in Zug, Sommaruga grew up with two brothers and a sister in Sins, Aargau. She attended the gymnasium at Immensee, Schwyz and trained as a pianist at the Lucerne School of Music of Lucerne University. From 1988 to 1991, she attended English and Romance studies at the University of Fribourg, but did not graduate.

Professional career

Sommaruga held the directorship of the Swiss Consumer Protection Foundation from 1993 to 1999, which earned her public recognition in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. She has held the presidency of that foundation since 1999 and that of the aid organisation Swissaid since 2003. She is also patron of SAFFA 2020, alongside then-federal councillors Doris Leuthard and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, as well as former federal councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey.

Political career

Sommaruga's political career began as a member of the Grand Council of Bern from 1981 to 1990. She served in the municipal government of Köniz from 1997 to 2005. In 1999, she was elected to the National Council; in 2003 she became a member of the Federal Assembly's upper chamber, the Council of States, representing the canton of Bern.
On 11 August 2010, she announced her candidacy to succeed Moritz Leuenberger in the 2010 Federal Council election. She was elected on 22 September 2010.
She was elected as Vice President of the Federal Council for 2014 alongside President Didier Burkhalter. On 3 December 2014, she was elected as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2015, with Johann Schneider-Ammann as Vice President of the Federal Council. She served until 31 December 2015, when Schneider-Ammann succeeded her. Sommaruga became President of the Federal Council again in 2020.

Personal life

Sommaruga is married to the writer Lukas Hartmann and lives in Spiegel near Bern. She is a distant relative of Cornelio Sommaruga and fellow politician of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, Carlo Sommaruga.

Publications