Ignazio Daniele Giovanni Cassis (; born 13 April 1961) is a Swiss physician and politician who has 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 ...

since 1 January 2022. A member of FDP. The Liberals, he has been 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 ...

since 1 November 2017. Cassis was elected to the Federal Council on 20 September 2017 following the resignation of

Didier Burkhalter Didier Eric Burkhalter (born 17 April 1960) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2017. A member of FDP.The Liberals, he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2014. Burkhalter was elected t ...

. He has headed the

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten, french: Département fédéral des affaires étrangères, it, Dipartimento federale degli affari esteri, rm, ), so name ...

since he took office. On 8 December 2021, Cassis was elected President of the Swiss Confederation for 2022.

Education and career

Early career

Cassis was born to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

parents in Sessa, in the Italian-speaking canton of

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 studied medicine at the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

until 1987. He subsequently specialised in internal medicine and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

; he received his masters in public health in 1996. Cassis was awarded a doctorate in medicine (''Dr. med.'', MD) from the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

in 1998. He was a

cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Con ...

doctor in

from 1996 to 2008 and vice president of the Foederatio Medicorum Helveticorum (FMH, literally "Swiss Medical Association") from 2008 to 2012.

SRF Tagesschau ''SRF Tagesschau'' ( "View on the Day"), simply titled ''Tagesschau'' until 4 December 2005, is the title of a current-affairs show on German-speaking Swiss public channel SRF 1. The main edition is broadcast at 7:30 pm and further editions are ...

''Hauptausgabe'' 20 September 2017

National Council

Residing in the

canton of 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 . ...

, Cassis served in the National Council from 4 June 2007 to 30 October 2017 where he was affiliated with

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 ...

Federal Council

When Federal Councillor

announced his retirement in 2017, Cassis was one of the three candidates the FDP chose to replace him, the other two being

Isabelle Moret Isabelle Moret (born Zuppiger, 30 December 1970) is a Swiss politician who served as List of presidents of the National Council of Switzerland, President of the National Council from 2019 to 2020. A member of FDP.The Liberals since its foundation ...

(a National Councillor from

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 ...

) and

Pierre Maudet Pierre Maudet (born 6 March 1978) is a Swiss and French politician. Maudet was a member of FDP.The Liberals. He was the mayor of Geneva from 1 June 2011 to 31 May 2012. Biography Pierre Maudet is the son of Henri Maudet (born 1948), a Frenchman ...

(a cantonal official from Geneva and former Mayor of Geneva). Cassis was considered the favourite to succeed Burkhalter. Bundesratsfoto 2022

In the election, held on 20 September 2017, the Federal Assembly elected Cassis to the Federal Council in the second round by taking 125 of 244 valid votes, becoming the 117th

Federal Councillor 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 governm ...

since 1848. He was supported by the centre-right and right-wing parties in the Assembly. Cassis became the first Federal Councillor from Ticino since 1999. The Swiss press generally commented positively on Cassis's election. Cassis took office on 1 November 2017 as head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, succeeding

. He caused some controversy shortly after his election when the media reported that he addressed and joined

ProTell ProTell (formally: "The Society for Liberal Weapons Rights") is a Swiss gun-rights advocacy group based in Bern, Switzerland. The association was founded in 1978 with the purpose of defending the right of law-abiding citizens to carry arms, an ...

, a

gun rights The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, including securi ...

advocacy group, nine days before his election, something that might have made his relationship with the EU difficult as Foreign Minister due to discussions over joint gun policy. Cassis ended his membership in ProTell and other gun rights organisations shortly afterward. In 2021 Cassis served as Vice President of Switzerland. On 8 December 2021, he was elected President of Switzerland for the year 2022. He assumed the office on 1 January 2022 succeeding

Guy Parmelin Guy Bernard Parmelin (; born 9 November 1959) is a Swiss politician, who served as president of Switzerland in 2021, having previously served as vice president of Switzerland in 2020. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he has been ...

. In 2022, as president of the Swiss confederation, Cassis took a leading role to redefine

Swiss neutrality Swiss neutrality is one of the main principles of Switzerland's foreign policy which dictates that Switzerland is not to be involved in armed or political conflicts between other states. This policy is self-imposed and designed to ensure external ...

in light of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. In a delicate balance between a failed agreement towards the EU proposed framework accord and Swiss national interests, he has taken sides with the EU with regard to

international sanctions during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States, the European Union, and other countries introduced or significantly expanded sanctions to include Vladimir Putin and other government members, and cut off "selected Rus ...

. On 20 October, Cassis made an official visit to Ukraine, meeting President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

, Prime Minister

Denys Shmyhal Denys Anatoliyovych Shmyhal ( uk, Денис Анатолійович Шмигаль; born 15 October 1975) is a Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur who is the current Prime Minister of Ukraine since 2020. Prior to his appointment as prime m ...

and Foreign Minister

Dmytro Kuleba Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba ( uk, Дмитро Іванович Кулеба; born 19 April 1981) is a Ukrainian politician, diplomat, and communications specialist, currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also concurrently a member ...

Personal life

Cassis was born to Mariarosa and Gino at the Malcantonese Hospital of Castelrotto, Ticino. He has three sisters, two older and one younger than himself. Born in

Sessa, Ticino Sessa is a former municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 18 April 2021 the municipalities of Croglio, Monteggio, Ponte Tresa and Sessa merged to form Tresa. History Sessa is first mentioned in 1335 ...

, he is a citizen of

Biasca Biasca is a town of the district of Riviera in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Biasca is first mentioned in 830 as ''Aviasca'' in the ''Liber viventium'' of Pfäfers Abbey. In 1119 it was mentioned as ''Abiasca''. Early history ...

. Cassis entered late into politics, as an outsider in his forties. In the Swiss military, he was a battalion physician in the staff of the Ticino mountain troopers and later a member of the chief field physician's staff. Cassis is married to Paola Cassis and lives in

Montagnola Montagnola () is a small Swiss village in Collina d'Oro municipality. Located in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, it is close to the border between Switzerland and Italy. It looks over Lake Lugano and the city of Lugano upon it. It falls wi ...

. At birth, Cassis was an Italian citizen. In 1976 he was naturalised in Switzerland and had to give up his Italian passport. In 1991 he became a

dual citizen Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual (grammatical ...

of Switzerland and Italy. During his Federal Council candidacy in 2017, Cassis renounced his Italian citizenship.

References

External links

Federal Presidency
* * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassis, Ignazio 1961 births 20th-century Swiss physicians 21st-century Swiss politicians 21st-century Swiss physicians FDP.The Liberals politicians Foreign ministers of Switzerland Living people Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) People from Lugano District Swiss general practitioners Swiss internists Swiss people of Italian descent University of Zurich alumni University of Lausanne alumni