Achille Casanova (2 October 1941 – 17 July 2016) was a Swiss journalist and politician. He held the office of

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 prov ...

between 1981 and 2005, and during this time became the first official

spokesman A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for the Swiss Federal Council when that role was created on 1 September 2000.

Early life and education

Born in Zurich in 1941 but originating from the Italian-speaking

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

, he first attended school in

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

, before studying

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the universities of

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

and Fribourg. He began working as a journalist for the national press agency of Switzerland, before joining the Swiss Italian Television RSI in 1966.

Career

During his tenure, Achille Casanova worked with 26 different Federal Councillors (out of 108 ever elected by the time of his resignation), participated in over 1180 Federal Council sessions, and officiated under three different Chancellors. While he was a candidate for the office twice himself, the

Swiss Federal Assembly The Federal Assembly (german: Bundesversammlung, french: Assemblée fédérale, it, Assemblea federale, rm, Assamblea federala), also known as the Swiss parliament (''Parlament'', ''Parlement'', ''Parlamento''), is Switzerland's federal leg ...

elected other candidates every time. Fluent in German, French, Italian and English, his resignation sparked a minor row over language representation within the Swiss Federal government, when his successor,

Oswald Sigg Oswald Sigg (born 1944 in Zürich) is a Swiss journalist. In August 2005, he was elected Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland and Spokesman of the government of Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Council. He served as Spokesman until his retirement on 31 Ma ...

, was named over several candidates from Swiss-French and Swiss-Italian regions. This was compounded by the fact that his office (the second Vice-chancellor, in charge of the Information & Communication sector) had initially been created in 1895 on an ad hoc basis, to add a senior representative of the French and Italian speaking regions when both the Chancellor and the other Vice-chancellors came from German-speaking cantons. After retiring from office in 2005, he joined the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG as its

Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

. In January 2006, he was appointed Chairman of the

International Balzan Prize Foundation The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the br ...

Personal life

Casanova was married and a father to two grown-up children. Casanova died on 17 July 2016 after a serious illness. He was 74 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casanova 1941 births 2016 deaths Swiss television journalists Swiss politicians Politicians from Zürich