Death of Zug-born former federal chancellor announced

Earlier this month the death was announced of Annemarie Huber-Hotz, a former federal chancellor to the Swiss Confederation who came from Baar.

It was reported Huber-Hotz died unexpectedly of an acute heart-related problem while out walking with members of her family in the Schwarzsee area of the canton of Fribourg.

The 70-year-old was the first ever female federal chancellor when she took on this role on 1 January 2000, continuing in it until 31 December 2007.

The role of federal chancellor is not to be confused with that of federal chancellor in Germany, i.e. that held by Angela Merkel. In Switzerland this high office is more that of secretary to the cabinet, i.e. the seven-member Federal Council. While the holder of this prestigious office is not a member of the council, he, or she in this case, attends all meetings and frequently appears in official photographs with them and is often referred to as the “eighth member” of the cabinet.

Huber-Hotz, a member of the FDP party, was born on 16 August 1948 and attended schools in Baar and Zug before going on to study at the universities of Bern, Geneva and Zurich as well as in Uppsala in Sweden.

In 1978 she began working in federal administration initially in the General Secretariat of the Federal Parliament prior to taking on the responsibility of the Secretariat of the Council of States, the smaller of the two chambers of parliament in Bern. In 1992 she was appointed general secretary to the Federal Parliament prior to being appointed federal chancellor to the Swiss Confederation in 1999, as mentioned, the first ever woman to hold this role.

Even after her resignation in 2007 she remained active becoming chairwoman of various organisations including, between the years 2011 and 2019, the Swiss Red Cross, and vice-president of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Furthermore, she sat on many committees and foundation boards such as that of the Swiss Banking Ombudsmen, the Kuoni and Hugentobler foundations and was a member of the council of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva as well as a member of the board of a national charity which provides help to people living in the mountainous areas of the country.

Annemarie Huber-Hotz is survived by her husband, her three children, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law and four grandchildren.