Petra Christina Antonella Gössi known as Petra Gössi (born 12 January 1976) is a Swiss politician. She was a member of the National Council from 2011 to 2023 for The Liberals and was elected to the Council of States in 2023. Previously she served on the Cantonal Council of Schwyz between 2004 and 2011. Since 2006, she has been a member of the management of The Liberals and between 2012 and 2016 was president of her political party.

Early life and education

Gössi was born 12 January 1976 in

Lucerne, Switzerland Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. With a population of ...

to Anton 'Tony' and Edy (née Pini) Gössi. Her parents operated a household supply store. Her mother hailed from

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

, therefore she was raised

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

. She was raised in Küssnacht am Rigi on

Lake Lucerne Lake Lucerne (, literally 'Lake of the four Waldstätte, forested settlements' (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), , ) is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country. Geography The lake has a compli ...

. She attended ''Gymnasium Immensee'', where she completed her

Matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

. Subsequently she studied

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

graduating with a

Licentiate degree A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universitie ...

. She completed a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Economic Crime Investigation at

Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts () (HSLU) is one of seven regional, public-funded public university, universities of applied sciences founded in 1997 in its current form. The University was called University of Applied Sciences of ...

. Since March 2021, she is enrolled at the

University of St. Gallen The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is a research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland, that specialises in business administration, economics, law, international affairs, and computer science. It was established in 1898. It consistent ...

for a Diploma in General Management.

Career

Gössi completed various internships and trainee programs, most prominently with

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen LLP was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corpo ...

in 2002, but also with local courts and law offices in

Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''. The of ...

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...

and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. She held various positions until 2008, before she became a tax and business consultant for ''Bayron AG'' in Zürich.

Politics

In 2004, she was elected to the Cantonal Council of Schwyz. At the age of 32, she became the council president and served in that role until 2011, when she was elected to the National Council. She was also selected as the FDP leader in Schwyz. In 2016, Gössi succeeded Philipp Müller as the leader of the national FDP. She is the second woman to lead the party. She resigned from this position in 2021. In 2023 she was elected to the Council of States.

Personal life

Gössi is in a relationship with Josef Alois 'Joe' Hättenschwiler, a Zürich-based psychiatrist. She resides in Küssnacht am Rigi.

References

External links

Official pageFDP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gössi, Petra 1976 births Living people People from the canton of Schwyz University of Bern alumni Swiss women lawyers FDP.The Liberals politicians 21st-century Swiss women politicians Women members of the National Council (Switzerland) Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2019–2023 Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2011–2015