Josef Zisyadis (born 17 April 1956) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

politician, a member of the

Swiss Party of Labour The Swiss Party of Labour (german: Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz; french: Parti Suisse du Travail – Parti Ouvrier et Populaire; it, Partito Svizzero del Lavoro – Partito Operaio e Popolare; rm, Partida svizra da la lavur) is a communist pa ...

, and of the Alternative Left (since 2010). Born to

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

parents in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, and after a sojourn in Athens (1958–1962), he moved to Switzerland with his family in 1962, aged seven, and was later

naturalized 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 ...

as citizen of

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

. He studied theology in Lausanne, graduating in 1979. During 1979-1983 he worked as pastor in the ''Mission populaire évangélique'' in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, returning to Lausanne in 1983, where he joined the ''Parti Ouvrier Populaire '' 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 ...

. During 1994–1996, he acted as secretary of the Party of Labour. He was a member of the

Swiss National Council The National Council (german: Nationalrat; french: Conseil national; it, Consiglio nazionale; rm, Cussegl naziunal) is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the upper house being the Council of States. With 200 seats, the ...

(1991–1996, 1999–2011) representing the Canton of

. During 1996–1998, he was a member of the cantonal government of Vaud ('' Conseil d'Etat''), heading the department of Justice, Police and Military affairs. At the October 2007 federal elections, Zisyadis failed to win reelection, however, on 1 November 2007 successful party candidate

Marianne Huguenin Marianne Huguenin (born 1 May 1950) is a former Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Party of Labour, who was elected to the Swiss National Council representing the Canton of Vaud from 2003 to 2007. A lesbian, she was the first openly gay ...

announced her resignation from the National Council to focus on her position as mayor of

Renens Renens ( ) is a municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. It is located in the district of Ouest Lausannois, and is a suburb of the city of Lausanne. It is the fourth largest city in the canton. It is considered a very multiethnic town, a ...

, leaving Zizyadis to take the Party's seat in the National Council representing Vaud. Zisyadis since the founding of the new party Alternative Left in 2010 is a member of that party, but also stays member of the Swiss Party of Labour. Zisyadis again failed to retain his mandate in the

2011 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2011. * Local electoral calendar 2011 * National electoral calendar 2011 * 2011 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2011 Beninese presidential election * 2011 Beninese parliamentary el ...

, his seat passing to the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

. The Alternative Left coalition gathered 1.2% of the popular vote nationwide; with the loss of Zisyadis' seat, the

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

loses all representation at the federal level.

Notes and references

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zisyadis, Josef 1956 births Living people Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Constantinopolitan Greeks Turkish emigrants to Switzerland Politicians from Lausanne Politicians from Istanbul Politicians from Athens

Notes and references

See also

External links