Micheline Calmy-Rey

Born:July 8, 1945 (age 79)
Career:Head of Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, 2003-2011
Member of the Swiss Federal Council, 2003-2011
President of Switzerland, 2007 and 2011
Vice president of Switzerland, 2006 and 2010
Party:Social Democratic Party
Education:Institut de hute etudes internationales

Micheline Calmy-Rey served as president of Switzerland for two, one-year terms, in 2007 and in 2011. She was the second female president of Switzerland, the first being her predecessor, Ruth Dreifnuss. Following her presidency, Calmy-Rey served on the Global Sustainability Panel for the United Nations.

Calmy-Rey was born in Sion in Canton Valais on July 8, 1945. In 1968, she graduated from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva. She ran a small book distribution company for 20 years.

Calmy-Rey joined the Geneva Socialist party in 1979 and was its president for two periods. She was a deputy in the Geneva Grand Council. In 1998, she became a member of the Geneva government and took over the finance department. Calmy-Rey was elected to the Federal Council on December 4, 2002. She was head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2011, when she retired.

Photo by Bundeskanzlei, via Wikimedia Commons.

Club de Madrid (n.d.). "Micheline Calmy-Rey" Club de Madrid. Retrieved September 26, 2022. https://clubmadrid.org/who/members/calmy-rey-micheline/

Council of women world leaders (n.d.). "Micheline Calmy-Rey" Council of women world leaders . Retrieved September 26, 2022. https://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/micheline-calmy-rey.html

Global Leadership Foundation (n.d.). "Micheline Calmy-Rey" Global Leadership Foundation. Retrieved September 26, 2022. https://www.g-l-f.org/who-we-are/glf-members-listed-by-region/micheline-calmy-rey/.

Speeches