Cesla Virginia Amarelle (born 14 September 1973,

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

) is an Uruguayan-Swiss jurist and politician. She is a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz; SP; rm, Partida Socialdemocrata da la Svizra) or Swiss Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste suisse, it, Partito Socialista Svizzero; PS), is a polit ...

and a professor of law at

University of Neuchâtel The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking university based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, law and eco ...

Early life

Cesla Amarelle was born on 14 September 1973 in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, three months after the

1973 Uruguayan coup d'état The 1973 Uruguayan coup d'état took place in Uruguay on 27 June 1973 and marked the beginning of the civic-military dictatorship which lasted until 1985. President Juan María Bordaberry closed parliament and ruled with the assistance of a jun ...

that brought a military dictatorship to power in the country. Her parents, both leftist activists, decided to flee Uruguay and in 1977, while working for an international organization in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, settled in

Yverdon-les-Bains Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Roman era) is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district. The population of Yverdon-les-Bains, , was ...

. Amarelle became a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

of Switzerland at the age of 16.

Academic career

In 2008–09, Amarelle lectured at

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius ...

and was its chair for international and European law. She was made an assistant professor on migration law at the

the following year. Since January 2016, she has been a professor of public and migration law there.

Political career

Amarelle joined the

in 1999. She was the vice president of the party's chapter in the Canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

from 2004 to 2008 and then that chapter's president from 2008 to 2012.

Personal life

Amarelle is married to Philipp Müller.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amarelle, Cesla Virginia Living people 1973 births People from Montevideo Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Canton of Vaud politicians 21st-century Swiss women politicians 21st-century Swiss politicians