Willy Spühler (31 January 1902, in Zurich – 31 May 1990) was a Swiss politician. He was elected to the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...

on 17 December 1959, representing the

Canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

, and handed over office on 31 January 1970. He was affiliated to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. He was a municipal councillor in Zurich in 1928 and a national councillor from 1938 to 1959. He was the first foreign minister to advocate Switzerland's membership of the United Nations in 1966. One week after de Gaulle's ''Vive le Québec libre!'', Spühler delivered a speech on pluringual Switzerland during Montreal's Universal Exhibition in 1967 . During his time in office he held the following departments: * Department of Posts and Railways (1960–1962), renamed Department of Transport, Communications and Energy (1963–1965) * Political Department (1966–1970) He was President of the Confederation in 1963 and 1968. After retirement, he presided the ''Pro Helvetia'' Foundation and the consultative commission for Switzerland's presence abroad.

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* * 1902 births 1990 deaths Politicians from Zurich Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Presidents of the Swiss Confederation Ministers of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of Switzerland Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Foreign ministers of Switzerland {{Switzerland-politician-stub