Michael Kohn

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Michael Kohn (born December 23, 1925 in Zurich ; † September 7, 2018 there ) was a Swiss engineer , lobbyist and entrepreneur . His commitment to nuclear energy in Switzerland earned him the nickname “Atomic Pope”.

Life

Michael Kohn graduated in 1948 graduated from the ETH Zurich with a degree in Civil Engineering , where he later took a job in research. In 1953 he became a project engineer at the energy company Motor-Columbus AG , which he took over as director eleven years later. He was also the director of dam projects.

At the end of the 1950s, he spent several years in Israel as the construction manager of a canal system that carries water from the region of the Sea of ​​Galilee to the arid south of the country ( National Water Carrier ) - a project politically supported by the federal government, in which Swiss companies are also involved involved.

From 1964 he sat on the Board of Directors of Motor Columbus and chaired it from 1975 to 1985. During this period, he also chaired the Board of Directors of Aare-Tessin AG for electricity and was thus managing director of the Gösgen nuclear power plant and, through his public commitment, an enemy of the opponents of nuclear power .

In 1974 he chaired the Federal Commission for the Overall Energy Concept (GEK) for four years , which in some cases met with considerable criticism. He was an important lobbyist for the liberalization of the electricity market in Switzerland and advocated the construction of new nuclear power plants.

From 1988 to 1992 Michael Kohn was President of the Swiss Association of Israelites (SIG). After his retirement he worked in the working group for capital and economy (acw.), Which he chaired, an association for liberal statements and publications. Kohn also represented the positions of business at climate conferences and was a member of the corresponding Economiesuisse commissions . He presided over the Michael Kohn Foundation, which u. a. Collects money for those in need of the Jewish faith. The ETH Zurich awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1996. In 2015, the Kohns Foundation awarded half a million Swiss francs for the Quantum Engineering Initiative at ETH Zurich.

Publications (selection)

  • Energy and Climate Policy 2007 - The 2000 Watt Society - From Fascination to Realities. Reprint Swiss monthly issues , May 2007.
  • Energy scene in Switzerland. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung , Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-85823-198-3 .
  • Ursula Koch , Michael Kohn / Patrizia Noémi Franchini (eds.): Titanic or Noah's Ark: Conversations on energy, technology and society. Rauhreif, Zurich and Villigen 1987, ISBN 3-907764-07-2 .
  • The Swiss overall energy concept: basics, options, consequences, short version. Cantonal Bank of Bern, Bern 1979.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Petar Marjanovic: He was the enemy of the opponents of nuclear power: nuclear pope Michael Kohn († 92) is dead. In: Blick.ch . September 7, 2018, accessed September 9, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Davide Scruzzi: Dogmatists of Progress. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . December 22, 2015, accessed September 9, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Kohn, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss engineer, lobbyist and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH September 7, 2018
Place of death Zurich