Flavio Cotti

Flavio Cotti (born October 18, 1939 in Muralto , entitled to live in Lavizzara , † December 16, 2020 in Locarno ) was a Swiss politician of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP) from the canton of Ticino . As Federal Councilor , he was Interior and Foreign Minister and twice held the office of Federal President .

Career

Flavio Cotti was born into a merchant family. His ancestors originally came from the municipality of Prato-Sornico to the city of Locarno and ran a fabric trade there.

Cotti attended the Collegio Papio in Ascona and the Benedictine College in Sarnen . In 1962 he received his licentiate in law from the University of Friborg (Switzerland) . After graduating, he worked as a lawyer in Locarno , together with his relative Gabriele Pedrazzini. From 1964 to 1975 he was a local councilor (legislature) in Locarno, from 1967 to 1975 a member of the Ticino Grand Council and from 1975 to 1983 State Councilor . He headed the Department of Economics and Justice. Cotti presided over CVP Switzerland from 1984 to 1986. His election to the National Council took place in 1983.

He died in December 2020 at the age of 81 in connection with a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Federal Council

Cotti was elected to the Federal Council on December 10, 1986 in the first ballot . He took over the EDI on January 1, 1987 and switched to the EDA on April 1, 1993 . On January 13, 1999, Flavio Cotti and Arnold Koller jointly announced their resignation on March 31, 1999.

Cotti was Federal President in 1991 and 1998, in which 700 years of the Confederation and 150 years of the state were celebrated. As Federal President, he visited Nelson Mandela in Cape Town in 1998 .

Cotti's area of responsibility as Federal Council originates from the Federal Law on Health Insurance (referendum on December 4, 1994), the Federal Law on Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (10th AHV revision, referendum on June 15, 1995), and the Federal Decree on the revision of the language article in the Federal Constitution (Referendum March 10, 1996), the Federal Decree on Medical Prescription of Heroin (referendum June 13, 1999); An important business of his term of office without a referendum was the federal law on the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH law of October 4, 1991).

During his tenure as foreign minister, there was also a dispute with the USA over Jewish assets from World War II. For this reason, at the request of Cottis Department, the Federal Council set up an Independent Expert Commission Switzerland - Second World War on December 19, 1996 (Bergier Commission); On November 18, 1998, he also had to reinstate the federal decree on the assets of racially, religiously or politically persecuted foreigners or stateless persons (registration deadline), enforced by Federal Councilor Ludwig von Moos in 1962 and repealed in 1972 at the request of Federal Councilor Kurt Furgler .

Flavio Cotti campaigned personally for the Swiss Literary Archives , which came about through the donation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's estate in 1988. Shortly before the end of his term in office, he received the Fischhof Prize in 1999 .

After his resignation as Federal Councilor, Flavio Cotti no longer gave interviews and, unlike other former Federal Councilors, no longer spoke in public on political issues.

literature

Fabrizio Panzera: Flavio Cotti. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . March 24, 2004 .
Urs Altermatt (Ed.): The Federal Council Lexicon. Bern 1991, p. 602.
Urs Marti: Former Federal Councilor Flavio Cotti has died: Foreign Minister in an eventful time , nzz.ch , December 16, 2020, accessed on December 17, 2020.

Web links

Commons : Flavio Cotti - collection of images, videos and audio files

Flavio Cotti in the Munzinger archive (beginning accessible without login)
Literature by and about Flavio Cotti in the catalog of the German National Library
Flavio Cotti on the website of the Federal Assembly ( submitted proposals )
Obituary on the Federal Council's website , December 17, 2020

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Former Federal Councilor Flavio Cotti died of Corona at 81. Accessed December 16, 2020 .
↑ Flavio Cotti Bundesrat on admin.ch/gov/de/start/bundesrat
↑ Fischhof Prize. Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism (GRA), accessed on August 13, 2010 .
↑ Trix Heberlein, President of the National Council: Address on the occasion of the award of the Fischhof Prize. Parliamentary Services, April 26, 1999, accessed August 13, 2010 .
↑ Patrik Müller: The master of the deal: Former Federal Councilor Flavio Cotti died of Corona at 81 . In: Solothurner Zeitung . December 16, 2012. Accessed December 18, 2020.

predecessor	Office	successor
Alphons Egli	Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1987–1999	Joseph Deiss

personal data
SURNAME	Cotti, Flavio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss politician (CVP)
DATE OF BIRTH	October 18, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH	Muralto
DATE OF DEATH	December 16, 2020
Place of death	Locarno

[verstorben-1] Former Federal Councilor Flavio Cotti died of Corona at 81. Accessed December 16, 2020 .

[2] Flavio Cotti Bundesrat on admin.ch/gov/de/start/bundesrat

[3] Fischhof Prize. Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism (GRA), accessed on August 13, 2010 .

[4] Trix Heberlein, President of the National Council: Address on the occasion of the award of the Fischhof Prize. Parliamentary Services, April 26, 1999, accessed August 13, 2010 .

[5] Patrik Müller: The master of the deal: Former Federal Councilor Flavio Cotti died of Corona at 81 . In: Solothurner Zeitung . December 16, 2012. Accessed December 18, 2020.