Alain Berset (born 9 April 1972) is a Swiss politician who has serves as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2012. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), he heads the Federal Department of Home Affairs since he took office. Berset has serves as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2023.
From 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018, Berset served as President of the Swiss Confederation. At age 45, he was the youngest officeholder since Marcel Pilet-Golaz in 1934. Prior to his election to the Federal Council in 2011, he was a member of the Council of States (from the canton of Fribourg, 2003–2011), where he served as President of the Council of States for the 2008–2009 term. Berset speaks French, German, Italian, Romansh and English.
Biography
Personal life
Born in Fribourg on 9 April 1972, the son of a teacher and a bookseller, Berset studied political science and economics at the University of Neuchâtel, where he received a master’s degree in political science in 1996 and a PhD in economics in 2005 with a dissertation about the role of international migration upon local working conditions.
Berset is married to Muriel Zeender Berset and is the father of three children. The family lives in Belfaux, a village near Fribourg.
Early career
Berset worked as assistant lecturer and researcher at the Institute for Regional Economics of the University of Neuchâtel from 1996 till 2000, when he moved to the Hamburg Institute for Economic Research for a year. In 2000 he became a member of the Constituent Assembly of the canton of Fribourg and president of its social democrat parliamentary group until 2004. He also served on the Belfaux communal parliament from 2001 to 2003. In 2002, he became strategic consultant to the Department of Economic Affairs of the canton of Neuchâtel.
Member of the Council of States
In 2003 he was elected to the Swiss Council of States from the canton of Fribourg as a member of the Social Democratic Party becoming the youngest member of the Council of States,[8] as well as the party’s parliamentary group’s vice president in December 2005. He was also a member of the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Following his reelection in 2007, he was elected the States Council’s vice president in 2007–2008; he subsequently served as the body’s president in 2008–2009.
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Alain Berset
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Official portrait, 2023
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| President of Switzerland | |
| Assumed office 1 January 2023 |
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| Vice President | Viola Amherd |
| Preceded by | Ignazio Cassis |
| In office 1 January 2018 – 31 December 2018 |
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| Vice President | Ueli Maurer |
| Preceded by | Doris Leuthard |
| Succeeded by | Ueli Maurer |
| Vice President of Switzerland | |
| In office 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2022 |
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| President | Ignazio Cassis |
| Preceded by | Ignazio Cassis |
| Succeeded by | Viola Amherd |
| In office 1 January 2017 – 31 December 2017 |
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| President | Doris Leuthard |
| Preceded by | Doris Leuthard |
| Succeeded by | Ueli Maurer |
| Swiss Federal Councillor | |
| Assumed office 1 January 2012 |
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| Department | Home Affairs (2012–) |
| Preceded by | Micheline Calmy-Rey |
| President of the Council of States | |
| In office 1 December 2008 – 23 November 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Christoffel Brändli |
| Succeeded by | Erika Forster-Vannini |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 April 1972 Fribourg, Switzerland |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party |
| Spouse |
Muriel Zeender
(m. 2002) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Neuchâtel (BA, MA, PhD) |
Source from wikipedia