Samuel Bhend (1943 – 2 December 2021) was a Swiss politician.

Biography

Bhend was born in

Brienz Brienz ( , , ) is a village and municipality on the northern shore of Lake Brienz, at the foot of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain, and in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. Besides the village of Brienz, the municipality includes the sett ...

in 1943 and grew up in

Beatenberg Beatenberg is a municipality in the Interlaken district of the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Beatenberg is first mentioned in 1275 as ''super rupes''. In 1281 it was mentioned as ''ob den fluen'' and in 1357 as ''Sant Beaten berge ...

. After graduating from secondary school, he became a teacher and subsequently a principal in

Urtenen-Schönbühl Urtenen-Schönbühl is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are some neolithic artifacts which were discovered at Längenrüpp ...

. He was married to Lotti Bhend-Reber. Samuel Bhend died on 2 December 2021 at the age of 78.

Political career

Bhend 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 ...

(PS) and was part of the ecological faction of the party. He was a communal councilor in Urtenen-Schönbühl from 1976 to 1982. He served in the Grand Council of Bern from 1974 to 1986 and again from 1990 to 1997. He was praised as an opposition figure by ''

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has b ...

'' and '. He served as Vice-President of the inquiry on the issue of Jura separatism in the mid-1980s. He chaired the PS in the Bernese Oberland from 1985 to 1992. He ran for a seat in the Federal Assembly three times, without success. Bhend was elected to the

Executive Council of Bern The Executive Council (german: Regierungsrat, french: Conseil-éxecutif) is the executive of the Swiss canton of Bern. This seven-member collegial body is elected by the people for a period of four years. The cantonal constitution reserves one s ...

in 1997, taking over the seat of , who had resigned due to health complications. He became head of the Public Health and Welfare Department on 1 May 1997. He was re-elected in 1998 and 2002. In 2005, he announced that he would not be running for a fourth term.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhend, Samuel 1943 births 2021 deaths People from Brienz Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians