Ignazio Cassis

Ignazio Cassis (born 13 April 1961) is a Swiss physician and politician. He is affiliated to the FDP The Liberals and was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on 20 September 2017. He has served since 1 November 2017 as head of the Department of Foreign Affairs.[1]

Ignazio Cassis
Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs
Assumed office
1 November 2017
Preceded byDidier Burkhalter
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
Assumed office
1 November 2017
Preceded byDidier Burkhalter
Personal details
Born (1961-04-13) 13 April 1961
Sessa, Switzerland
Political partyFDP.The Liberals
Spouse(s)Paola Cassis
Alma materUniversity of Zürich
University of Lausanne

Education and career

Cassis studied medicine at the University of Zurich until 1987. He subsequently specialized in internal medicine and public health, and received his master in public health in 1996. Cassis was awarded a doctorate in medicine (Dr. med., MD) from the University of Lausanne in 1998. He was a cantonal doctor in Ticino from 1996 to 2008 and vice president of the Foederatio Medicorum Helveticorum (FMH, literally "Swiss Medical Association") from 2008 to 2012.[2]

Residing in the Canton of Ticino, Cassis served as a member of the Swiss National Council from 4 June 2007 to 30 October 2017. He is affiliated with the FDP The Liberals.[3]

Federal Council
Cassis (left) shakes hands with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in February 2019

When Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter announced his retirement in 2017, Cassis was one of the three candidates the FDP chose to replace him, the other two being Isabelle Moret, a National Councillor from Vaud, and Pierre Maudet, a cantonal official from Geneva and former Geneva mayor.[4] Cassis was considered the favorite to succeed Burkhalter.[4]

In the election, held on 20 September 2017, the Federal Assembly elected Cassis to the Federal Council in the second round by taking 125 of 244 valid votes, becoming the 117th Federal Councilor since 1848.[5][6][7][8] He was supported by the centre-right and right-wing parties in the assembly.[8] Cassis became the first Federal Councillor from Ticino since 1999.[7][8] The Swiss press generally commented positively on Cassis's election.[9][10]

Cassis took office on 1 November 2017 as head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, succeeding Didier Burkhalter.[1][11][12] He caused some controversy shortly after his election when the media reported that he addressed and joined ProTell, a gun-rights advocacy group, nine days before his election, something that might have made his relationship with the EU difficult as foreign minister due to discussions over joint gun policy.[13] Cassis ended his membership in ProTell and other gun-rights organizations shortly afterward.[13]

Personal life

Cassis was born to Mariarosa and Gino at the Malcantonese Hospital of Castelrotto, Ticino. He has three sisters, two older and one younger than himself.[14][15] Born in Sessa, Ticino, he is a citizen of Biasca.[3] Cassis entered late into politics, as an outsider in his forties.[14] In the Swiss military, he was a battalion physician in the staff of the Ticino mountain troopers and later a member of the chief field physician's staff. Cassis is married to Paola Cassis and lives in Montagnola.[3][15]

At his birth, Cassis was an Italian citizen. In 1976 he was naturalized in Switzerland and had to give up his Italian passport. In 1991 he became a dual citizen of Switzerland and Italy. During his Federal Council candidacy in 2017, Cassis renounced his Italian citizenship.[16]

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References
  1. Quiquerez, Florent (1 November 2017). "Ignazio Cassis au pied du mur européen". 24Heures (in French). ISSN 1424-4039. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  2. SRF Tagesschau Hauptausgabe 20 September 2017
  3. "Ignazio Cassis". parlament.ch. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  4. Chandrasekhar, Anand (19 September 2017). "Who Will Become the Next Swiss Cabinet Minister?". Swissinfo. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. "ELETTO IGNAZIO CASSIS" (in Italian). ticinonews.ch. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  6. "FOKUS: Der Tessiner Ignazio Cassis ist neuer Bundesrat" (in German). 10vor10. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  7. "Ignazio Cassis is Elected Switzerland's New Federal Councillor". The Local. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  8. Geiser, Urs (20 September 2017). "Cassis Chosen as Switzerland's New Cabinet Minister". Swissinfo. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  9. "Press Welcomes Cassis Election to Federal Council". The Local. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  10. Stephens, Thomas (21 September 2017). "Election of Cassis 'Positive' and 'Smart', Say Papers". Swissinfo. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  11. "New Federal Councillor Cassis Inherits Foreign Ministry". The Local. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  12. "Cassis to Take Over Foreign Ministry". Swissinfo. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  13. "Future Swiss Foreign Minister Quits Gun Lobby Groups". Swissinfo. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  14. "In breve" (in Italian). ignaziocassis.ch. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  15. Philipp Mäder (20 September 2017). "Die stolzen Schwestern von Bundesrat Cassis" (in German). Schweizer Illustrierte. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  16. "FDP-Bundesratskandidat Cassis gibt italienischen Pass zurück". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 25 August 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
Political offices
Preceded by
Didier Burkhalter		 Member of the Swiss Federal Council
2017–present		 Incumbent
Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs
2017–present
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