Johann Schneider-Ammann

Johann Niklaus Schneider (born 18 February 1952), known as Johann Schneider-Ammann, is a Swiss businessman and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2010 to 2018. A member of FDP.The Liberals, he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2016. During his tenure as a Federal Councillor, Schneider-Ammann headed the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.

Johann Schneider-Ammann
President of Switzerland
In office
1 January 2016 – 31 December 2016
Vice PresidentDoris Leuthard
Preceded bySimonetta Sommaruga
Succeeded byDoris Leuthard
Vice President of Switzerland
In office
1 January 2015 – 31 December 2015
PresidentSimonetta Sommaruga
Preceded bySimonetta Sommaruga
Succeeded byDoris Leuthard
Head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
In office
1 November 2010 – 31 December 2018
Preceded byDoris Leuthard
Succeeded byGuy Parmelin
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
In office
1 November 2010 – 31 December 2018
Preceded byHans-Rudolf Merz
Succeeded byKarin Keller-Sutter
Personal details
Born
Johann Niklaus Schneider

(1952-02-18) 18 February 1952
Sumiswald, Switzerland
Political partyFree Democratic Party (until 2009)
FDP.The Liberals (since 2009)
SpouseKatharina Ammann
Children2
ResidenceLangenthal
Alma materETH Zürich
INSEAD

Biography

Origin and private career

The son of a veterinarian born in Sumiswald in the canton of Bern, Schneider-Ammann graduated as an electrical engineer from the ETH Zürich in 1977 and obtained a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD in France in 1983.[1][2] From 1990 to 2010, he acted as the head of his family's mechanical engineering company, Ammann Group, in the fourth generation, when he passed control over the company to his two children. Schneider-Ammann is married, has two children and lives in Langenthal.

Political career
2016 Swiss Federal Council
Schneider-Ammann with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Geneva in 2016

In the 1999 federal election, Schneider-Ammann was elected to the Swiss National Council for the canton of Bern as a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD). From 1999, he also chaired the corporate union Swissmem. He was reelected to the National Council in 2003 and 2007. In the context of the 2008 financial crisis, Schneider-Ammann took a critical stance on bonuses awarded to the finance industry.[3] However, Schneider-Ammann's company moved substantial funds to a Jersey, a tax haven, the same year.[4]

In 2009, Schneider-Ammann became a member of the newly-established FDP.The Liberals. In the 2010 election, he was elected to the Swiss Federal Council as Hans-Rudolf Merz's successor.[5] He took office on 1 November 2010 as the head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, which became the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research in 2013.[6] He had previously announced his intention to step down from his corporate responsibilities as well as various board memberships if elected.[1]

In 2015, he took office as Vice President of Switzerland under President Simonetta Sommaruga. He was inaugurated as President of the Swiss Confederation on 1 January 2016 along Vice President Doris Leuthard. In March 2016, he became an Internet meme after a speech on laughter that many deemed sad.[7] On 1 June 2016, as President of Switzerland, Schneider-Ammann was present at the official opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which became the world's longest railway tunnel, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi among others.[8]

On 31 December 2018, Schneider-Ammann left the Federal Council; he was replaced by Karin Keller-Sutter on 1 January 2019.

Other activities

Notes and references
  1. "Johann Schneider-Ammann: un capitaine d'industrie". Le Matin (in French). Edipresse Publications SA. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  2. "Schneider-Ammann: le sacre de l'entrepreneur". TSR info (in French). SRG SSR Idée Suisse. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  3. Egenter, Sven; Rhodes, Jason (22 September 2010). "Women take majority in Swiss cabinet for first time". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. p. 2. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  4. Andreas Valda, Schneider-Ammann, ein Steueroptimierer?, Tages-Anzeiger 30 January 2014.
  5. "Elections produce female majority in cabinet". Swissinfo.ch. SRG SSR Idée Suisse. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  6. "Leuthard au DETEC, Widmer-Schlumpf aux finances". TSR Télévision Suisse Romande. SRG SSR. 27 September 2010. Archived from the original on 30 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  7. Johann Schneider-Ammann fait rire en parlant tristement du... rire!, rts.ch (in French), 8 March 2016
  8. La Suisse et l'Europe se retrouvent au Gothard, retour sur une journée historique, rts.ch (in French), 1 June 2016
  9. Board of Governors Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
  10. Board of Governors European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
  11. Members Archived 13 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee.
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