Ernst Leuenberger (18 January 1945 – 30 June 2009) was a Swiss trade unionist and politician. He was a member of the National Council from 1983 to 1999, serving as president of the council in 1998, and a member of the Council of States from 1999 to 2009. He was 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 ...

Biography

Leuenberger was born in Kräilingen, a settlement near

Bätterkinden Bätterkinden is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is about north of Bern. History Bätterkinden is first mentioned in 1261 as ''Beturchingen''. During the High Middle Ages the ...

in the

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

and was raised in

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...

. He studied economics and social science at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

. In Bern, he also became active politically and organized anti-

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

protests. He became friends with

Willi Ritschard Willi Ritschard (sometimes Willy Ritschard; 28 September 1918 – 16 October 1983) was a Swiss politician of the Social Democratic Party (SP). He is remembered as the first and to date only working class member of the Federal Council, the Swis ...

, a member of the Federal Council, who encouraged him to seek the position of secretary of the Confederation of Trade Unions for the

Canton of Solothurn The canton of Solothurn or canton of Soleure (german: Kanton Solothurn rm, Chantun Soloturn french: Canton de Soleure; it, Canton Soletta) is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn. Hi ...

in 1973. In 1983, he was elected to the National Council for Solothurn. While serving at the national level, he remained active in the labor movement and, in 1990, ran for the presidency of the

Swiss Trade Union Federation The Swiss Trade Union Federation (, SGB; ; , USS) is the largest national trade union center in Switzerland. History The federation was founded in 1880 and represents 361,000 members in its affiliated unions (2015). The SGB has close ties with ...

against Walter Renschler, but was defeated. In 1992, he sought a seat on the cantonal Executive Council in Solothurn, but also failed in that bid. He was asked to run for a seat on the Federal Council in 1995 to replace

Otto Stich Otto Stich (10 January 1927 – 13 September 2012) was a Swiss politician. Born in Basel, he was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on 7 December 1983 and handed over office on 31 October 1995. He was affiliated to the Social Democrat ...

, but declined. In 1997, while serving as Vice President of the National Council, he was elected as the President of the

Union of Transport Workers The Union of Transport Workers (german: Gewerkschaft des Verkehrspersonals, SEV) is a trade union in Switzerland. History Many transport workers were involved in the 1918 Swiss general strike, and this inspired members of various small unions to ...

, which he held until 2005. Later that year, he assumed the presidency of the National Council. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, Leuenberger won a seat in the Council of States. He stepped down as head of the transport workers union in 2005 in order to focus on his work at the federal level. Leuenberger died on 30 June 2009 of cancer from which he had suffered since 2005.

References

External links

Webpage at Parliament of Switzerland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leuenberger, Ernst 1945 births 2009 deaths People from Emmental District Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Presidents of the National Council (Switzerland) Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Members of the Council of States (Switzerland) People from the canton of Solothurn