Micheline Calmy-Rey
Micheline Calmy-Rey (born
July 8,
1945) is a
Swiss politician, member of the
Swiss Federal Council since
2003. She is head of the
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (the Swiss
foreign minister) and Vice-President of the Confederation for
2006.
Calmy-Rey was born in
Sion in the canton of
Valais to Charles and Adeline Rey. She received her diploma in
1963 in
St. Maurice, and received a degree in political science at the
Institut de hautes études internationales (HEI) (Graduate Institute of International Studies) in
1968. In
1966 she married André Calmy. They have two children.
From
1981-
1997 Calmy-Rey served as a Congresswoman in the Grand Conseil of the
canton of Geneva as a member of the
Social Democratic Party (PSS/SPS), and served as president of the assembly during
1992-
1993. She was president of the Geneva section of the party from
1986-
1990 and again from
1993-
1997. In 1997, Calmy-Rey was elected to the
Conseil d'Etat of Geneva. In
2001 she became head of the Finance Department and president of the Conseil d'Etat.
She was elected
December 4,
2002 to the Federal Council, heading the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Calmy-Rey is only the fourth woman elected to the Federal Council in history. On
December 7,
2005 she was elected Vice-President of Switzerland, a post she will hold for the calendar year of 2006. Her work on the Federal Council has included accords between Switzerland and the European Union. If tradition holds up, in
2007 she will be elected as only the second female President of the Confederation. Ironically, the first was her predecessor on the Federal Council,
Ruth Dreifuss.
Much of the content of this article comes from
the equivalent German-language wikipedia article and
the equivalent French-language wikipedia article (retrieved April 1, 2006).
*http://www.calmy-rey.admin.ch Official website.
