Hans-Rudolf Merz (born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss politician who served as a

Member of the Swiss Federal Council Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

from 2004 to 2010. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) until the foundation of

FDP.The Liberals french: PLR.Les Libéraux-Radicaux it, PLR.I Liberali Radicali rm, PLD.Ils Liberals , logo = , caption = Logo of the party in French, German, and Italian , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Thierry Burkart ...

in 2009, he headed the

Federal Department of Finance The Federal Department of Finance (FDF, german: Eidgenössisches Finanzdepartement, links=no, french: Département fédéral des finances, links=no, it, Dipartimento federale delle finanze, links=no, rm, ) is one of the seven departments of ...

during his tenure as a Federal Councillor. Merz served as

President of the Swiss Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council, the country's ...

in 2009.

Biography

Education

Born in

Herisau Herisau is a municipality and the capital of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. It is the seat of the canton's government and parliament; the judicial authorities are situated in Trogen. The central hamlet and the houses around ...

in the

canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes) (german: Kanton Appenzell Ausserrhoden; rm, Chantun Appenzell Dadora; french: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures; it, Canton Appenzello Esterno) is one of the 26 canton ...

, he studied at Hochschule St. Gallen and graduated in 1971 with a

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

's degree. Merz was a

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

and visited the National Jamboree of Switzerland in July 2008. He is married and a father of three sons.

Early political career

From 1969 to 1974, he was party secretary of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) in St. Gallen. From 1974 to 1977 he worked as vice president for

UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...

's Wolfsberg formation centre in

Ermatingen Ermatingen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen (district), Kreuzlingen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History The Stone Age Westerfeld and Büge shoreline settlements w ...

. Since then he has worked as a management consultant. In 1997 he was elected to the

Swiss Council of States The Council of States (german: Ständerat, french: Conseil des États, it, Consiglio degli Stati, rm, Cussegl dals Stadis) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, with the National Council being the lower house. It compri ...

for the

. He presided over the finance committee and was a member of the foreign policy committee.

Swiss Federal Council

Merz was elected to the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...

on 10 December 2003 and took office on 1 January 2004. At the time he was on the board of directors of the Helvetia-Patria insurance company and Anova Holding. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation. Bundesrat der Schweiz 2009

On 20 September 2008, whilst in Eastern Switzerland, Merz was rushed to hospital, having suffered from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. He was soon flown to Bern University Hospital, where he had a multiple

bypass operation Coronary artery bypass surgery, also known as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG, pronounced "cabbage") is a surgical procedure to treat coronary artery disease (CAD), the buildup of plaques in the arteries of the heart. It can relieve chest p ...

. He was also placed into an artificial coma. This led to a reorganisation of the cabinet and the absence of President

Pascal Couchepin Pascal Couchepin (born 5 April 1942) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1998 to 2009. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD), he was President of the Swiss Confederation twice, in 2003 and 2008 ...

from the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

in New York City. On 10 December 2008, as the Member of the Federal Council that had not been its president for the longest time, Merz was elected

President of the Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council, the country's executive branch. Elected by ...

for 2009. In the Federal Assembly, the 66-year-old received 185 out of 209 valid votes. He succeeded Free Democratic Party colleague

Doris Leuthard Doris Leuthard (born 10 April 1963) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2006 to 2018. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), she was elected as President of the Swiss ...

was elected as Vice President of the Confederation, succeeding Merz. On 20 September 2010, a recording of Merz replying to a question about meat imports in the Federal Assembly became a

viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...

, drawing international attention. Merz convulsed with laughter when reading the dense bureaucratic language of the reply drafted for him by customs officials. He was supposed to provide information if the sales of notably

Bündnerfleisch Bündnerfleisch, also known as Bindenfleisch, Grisons Meat or Viande des Grisons, is an air-dried meat that is produced in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. Production The main ingredient is beef, taken from the animal’s upper thigh or ...

in Switzerland is endangered by meat imports.

Works

*Merz, Hans-Rudolf: ''Finanz- und Verwaltungsvermögen in öffentlich-rechtlicher und wirtschaftlicher Betrachtungsweise, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Staatsrechnungen der Kantone.'', St. Gallen 1971 *Merz, Hans-Rudolf: ''Die aussergewöhnliche Führungspersönlichkeit: Essay über Elativität und elative Persönlichkeit.'', Grüsch 1987. *Merz, Hans-Rudolf: ''Der Landammann und weitere Erzählungen aus dem Appenzellerland'', Herisau 1992.

References

External links

* * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Merz, Hans-Rudolf 1942 births Living people FDP.The Liberals politicians Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Finance ministers of Switzerland People from Appenzell Ausserrhoden Scouting and Guiding in Switzerland Swiss Protestants University of St. Gallen alumni