Edgar Oehler (born 2 March 1942) is a Swiss businessman and politician. He is a former member of the National Council (Switzerland) and served as a member for the Christian Democratic People's Party from 1971 to 1995.

Early life and education

Oehler was born into a modest family in Balgach, Switzerland to Ludwig Oehler and Rosa (née Eschenmoser). His father was a commercial painter and the family often struggled to make ends meet. He completed the public schools at

Balgach Balgach is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Balgach is first mentioned about 890-91 as ''Palgaa''. Coat of arms The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is ''Per ...

and

Widnau Widnau is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History In 1883 the municipality was created when it separated from Diepoldsau.Kantonsschule St. Gallen where he completed his Matura in 1962. In 1961, he took part in a student exchange, earning an American

high school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...

at Dallas Senior High School in Dallas, Oregon. He then served his mandatory military service with the Swiss Armed Forces in the function of

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

man. Between 1963 and 1967 he studied at

University of St. Gallen A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

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 ...

with a major in

Public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that are of direct ...

. He completed an exchange semester at the

International Christian University is a non-denominational private university located in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan, commonly known as ICU. With the efforts of Prince Takamatsu, General Douglas MacArthur, and BOJ President Hisato Ichimada, ICU was established in 1949 as the first ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. He earned his PhD in 1975.

Career

Already during his college studies he ventured into the world of business, operating a

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

company and worked as journalist for various newspapers such as the daily newspaper

Die Ostschweiz Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

. He stopped with those activities when he entered Arbonia Forster Group (AFG), in which he was employed from 1985 to 1990 as general director. On 11 September 2003 he took-over the majority of the shares of the group as well as all its subsidiaries. Until 2014 he was majority shareholder and board member of the group.

Politics

Oehler was a member of the National Council (Switzerland) from 1971 until 1995 for the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP). He was a member of several commissions focussing on economy, finance and state and foreign policy. From 1991 to 2004 he has been the president of the ''Association of the Swiss Tobacco Industry'' and a lobbyist of the

tobacco industry The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies who are engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any ...

Private

Since 1976, he is married to Marianne (née Metzler), and resides in Horgen and

. His wife is a painter. He has no biological children but four adopted daughters which were conveyed by the controversial adoption agency of Alice Honegger in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Oehler has an estimated net worth of $270–320 million (as of 2020) by Bilanz magazine.

Literature

* Edgar Oehler: ''Stammtafeln Öler, Oeler, Öhler und Oehler von Balgach SG''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oehler, Edgar Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland politicians Swiss newspaper journalists 20th-century Swiss businesspeople People from the canton of St. Gallen 1942 births Living people