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Eduard von Steiger

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Eduard von Steiger
Official portait, 1951
51st President of the Swiss Confederation
In office
1 January 1951 – 31 December 1951
Succeeded byJean-Marie Musy
ConstituencyCanton of Bern
Member of the Federal Council (Switzerland)
In office
1 January 1941 – 31 December 1951
Personal details
Born
Adolf Eduard von Steiger

(1881-07-02)2 July 1881
Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland
Died10 February 1962(1962-02-10) (aged 80)
Bern, Switzerland
Spouse
Beatrice Gabrielle von Muelinen
​
​
(m. 1914)​
RelationsRené Derolez (son-in-law)
Children1
OccupationLawyer, politician
Signature

Adolf Eduard von Steiger (German: [ˈeːduˌaʁt fɔn ˈʃtaɪɡɐ]; 2 July 1881 – 10 February 1962) was a Swiss lawyer and politician who served as the 51st President of the Swiss Confederation twice in 1945 and 1951 for Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents (presently known as Swiss People's Party. Von Steiger served as a Member of the Federal Council (Switzerland) from 1941 to 1951 and previously on the Grand Council of Bern from 1914 to 1939.[1]

Most notably he is known for his policy towards the immigration of Jewish refugees during World War II trying to enter Switzerland fleeing Nazism.[2][3] Von Steiger was against the immigration of Jews and was known for his sentence "the boat is full" (which was later turned into the movie The Boat Is Full).[4] In 2013, his birth town of Langnau im Emmental, intended to revoke his honorary municipal citizenship which he held there since 1944.[5][6]

Von Steiger has been a lawyer with a private practice in Bern. He also served on a variety of boards such as Schweizerische Volksbank (a predecessor of Credit Suisse) from 1933 to 1940 and Swiss Federal Railways from 1938 to 1940. He also served on the bank council of the Swiss National Bank from 1931 to 1941, during his tenure as Federal Councilor.[7]

Early life and education

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Von Steiger was born 2 July 1881 in Langnau im Emmental, the oldest of five children, to Albrecht von Steiger (1851-1928), a engineer, and Anna Sophia Johanna von Steiger (née von Wattenwyl; 1860-1931). The family belonged to the Swiss nobility with both his parents being from the Bernese Patriciate. He studied law at the Universities of Geneva, Leipzig and Berne.

Political career

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He became a member of the Conservative Party, was elected a Municipal Councilor of Berne and a Member of the Cantonal Parliament of Berne, all in 1914. He was President of the town of Berne from 1922 to 1929. He was also President of the parliamentary faction of the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents.

In the Cantonal Parliament, he presided over the Commission of Justice, 1922-26, and over the State Economic Commission, 1929–34. He was President of the Parliamentary Council and elected to the Cantonal Executive Council of Berne in 1939.

He was elected to the Federal Council on 10 December 1940 and handed over office on 31 December 1951. He was affiliated to the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents (BGB/PAI), now the Swiss People's Party.

During his time in office, he held the Department of Justice and Police and was 51st President of the Confederation twice in 1945 and 1951.

Personal life

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In 1914, von Steiger married Béatrice Gabriele von Muelinen, colloquially Beatrix von Steiger (1889-1974), a daughter of Hans-Friedrich von Muelinen and Mathilda Emma Alice von Muelinen (née de Bary).[8][9] Her father was a head forester for the city of Bern, whilst her mother was a devoted poet and author who served as president and honorary president of the Bernese Lyceum Club and hailed from a silk manufacturing dynasty in Basel.[10][11] They had a daughter;

Von Steiger died on 10 February 1962 in Bern, Switzerland aged 80.

[edit]
Preceded by Member of the Swiss Federal Council
1940–1951 		Succeeded by
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  1. ^ "Ratsmitglied ansehen". www.parlament.ch. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  2. ^ Stephens, Thomas (2017-09-26). "'The boat is full': 75 years later". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  3. ^ Kempster, Norman (1998-06-10). "Swiss Slowed Jews' Escape, Report Says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  4. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/25/movies/the-boat-is-full.html
  5. ^ "Von Steigers Ehrenbürgerrecht | Dodis". www.dodis.ch. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  6. ^ "Walliser Bote 19. Februar 2013 — e-newspaperarchives.ch". www.e-newspaperarchives.ch (in German). Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  7. ^ "Base de données des élites suisses | Steiger, von-Mülinen, von, Eduard (1881 - 1962)". www2.unil.ch. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  8. ^ "Der Bund 26. August 1974 — e-newspaperarchives.ch". www.e-newspaperarchives.ch (in German). Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  9. ^ "Der Bund 26. August 1974 — e-newspaperarchives.ch". www.e-newspaperarchives.ch (in German). Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  10. ^ "Der Bund 6. April 1936 Ausgabe 02 — e-newspaperarchives.ch". www.e-newspaperarchives.ch (in German). Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  11. ^ "Der Bund 14. September 1952 — e-newspaperarchives.ch". www.e-newspaperarchives.ch (in German). Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  12. ^ "The Old English Newsletter Online". www.oenewsletter.org. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
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