Walter Renschler

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Walter Renschler (1986)

Walter Emil Renschler (born April 20, 1932 in Zurich ; † July 17, 2006 in Zollikon ) was a Swiss trade unionist and politician ( SP ).

Life

Walter Renschler was born in 1932 as the son of a factory worker. He studied economics at the Universities of Zurich and London and received his doctorate. He was a full-time journalist. At the beginning of the sixties he was editor of «Mondo - Swiss magazine for development issues» and «TCS-Revue». From 1968 to 2001 he was Vice President of the development aid organization Helvetas .

Renschler was elected to the National Council in 1967 as the second youngest member (after Jean Ziegler ) , to which he belonged until he was voted out in 1987. As a politician with a focus on development and foreign policy, he was a major pioneer of the Development Aid Act of 1976. From 1974 to 1994 he was executive secretary of the Association of Public Service Personnel (VPOD), and from 1990 to 1994 President of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB). His activities in foreign policy played a key role in Switzerland opening up to the European Union . His commitment as central president of the European Union Switzerland from 1968 to 1972 and his work in the Council of Europe from 1970 to 1977 also contributed to this. Together with his colleagues Andreas Gerwig , Lilian Uchtenhagen and Helmut Hubacher , he set the political direction in social democracy in the 1970s / 1980s, which earned them the name “Gang of Four”.

His estate is in the Swiss Social Archives .

Web links

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  1. Federal Gazette No. 48/1967 of November 30, 1967, available at http://www.amtsdruckschriften.bar.admin.ch/showHierarchyDate.do