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Hans-Rudolf Merz
	Hans-Rudolf Merz
	;
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 1 January 2004
Preceded by	Kaspar Villiger
President of Switzerland
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 1 January 2009
Vice President	Doris Leuthard
Preceded by	Pascal Couchepin
Vice President of Switzerland
	In office; 1 January 2008 – 31 December 2008
President	Pascal Couchepin
Preceded by	Pascal Couchepin
Succeeded by	Doris Leuthard
	Head of the Federal Department of Finance
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 1 January 2004
Preceded by	Kaspar Villiger
Born	10 November 1942 (age 67); Herisau, Switzerland
Political party	FDP
Alma mater	University of St. Gallen

Hans-Rudolf Merz (born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) and member of the Swiss Federal Council (since 2004). He is the head of the Federal Department of Finance (the Swiss finance minister) and President of the Swiss Confederation for 2009. Born in Herisau, Switzerland, he studied at Hochschule St. Gallen and graduated in 1971 with a DEA's degree and as Dr. rer. publ.

Merz was a Scout, and visited the National Jamboree of Switzerland in July 2008.^[1]^[2]

From 1969 to 1974, he was party secretary of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) in St. Gallen. Since 1977 he worked as a management consultant.

In 1997, he was elected to the Swiss Council of States for the canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes. He presided the finance committee and was a member of the foreign policy committee.

Merz was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on 10 December 2003. At the time, he was on the board of directors of the Helvetia-Patria insurance company and Anova Holding. He was also member of the board of trustees of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation.

On 20 September 2008, whilst in Eastern Switzerland, Merz was rushed to hospital, having suffered from a heart attack. He was soon flown to Bern University Hospital, where he had a multiple bypass operation. He was also placed into an artificial coma. This lead to a reorganisation of the cabinet and the absence of the Swiss President, Pascal Couchepin from the UN General Assembly in New York. ^[3]

On 10 December 2008, as the member of the Federal Council that hasn't been its president for the longest time, Merz was elected President of the Confederation for 2009. In parliament, the 66-year-old received 185 out of 209 valid votes. He succeeded Free Democratic Party colleague Pascal Couchepin. Doris Leuthard was elected vice-president.

He is married and father of three sons.

[edit] Works

Merz, Hans-Rudolf: Finanz- und Verwaltungsvermögen in öffentlich-rechtlicher und wirtschaftlicher Betrachtungsweise, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Staatsrechnungen der Kantone., St. Gallen 1971
Merz, Hans-Rudolf: Die aussergewöhnliche Führungspersönlichkeit: Essay über Elativität und elative Persönlichkeit., Grüsch 1987. ISBN 3-7253-0297-9
Merz, Hans-Rudolf: Der Landammann und weitere Erzählungen aus dem Appenzellerland, Herisau 1992. ISBN 3-85882-072-5

[edit] References

^ news.search.ch. "Hoher Besuch im Pfadfinder-Bundeslager" (in German). http://news.search.ch/inland/2008-07-25/hoher-besuch-im-pfadfinder-bundeslager. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
^ SF Tagesschau. "«VIP-Tag» im Pfadi-Bundeslager- Lagerleitung empfängt Bundesrat Merz" (in German). http://tagesschau.sf.tv/nachrichten/archiv/2008/07/25/schweiz/vip_tag_im_pfadi_bundeslager. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
^ news.search.ch. "Cabinet announces reorganisation" (in English). http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front/Cabinet_announces_reorganisation.html?siteSect=108&sid=9758381&cKey=1222179725000&ty=st. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

[edit] External links

Profile of Hans-Rudolf Merz with election results on the website of the Swiss Federal Council.

Biography of Hans-Rudolf Merz on the website of the Swiss Parliament.
Hans-Rudolf Merz in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

Political offices
Preceded by Kaspar Villiger	Member of the Swiss Federal Council 2004 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Pascal Couchepin	President of Switzerland 2009 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent

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[0] ws.search.ch. "Hoher Besuch im Pfadfinder-Bundeslager" (in German). http://news.search.ch/inland/2008-07-25/hoher-besuch-im-pfadfinder-bundeslager. Retrieved 2008-07-25.

[1] SF Tagesschau. "«VIP-Tag» im Pfadi-Bundeslager- Lagerleitung empfängt Bundesrat Merz" (in German). http://tagesschau.sf.tv/nachrichten/archiv/2008/07/25/schweiz/vip_tag_im_pfadi_bundeslager. Retrieved 2008-07-25.

[2] ws.search.ch. "Cabinet announces reorganisation" (in English). http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front/Cabinet_announces_reorganisation.html?siteSect=108&sid=9758381&cKey=1222179725000&ty=st. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

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