Otto Stich

* 10 Jan 1927, † 13 Sep 2012, Swiss, Politician

Otto Stich, the man with Federal Council experience, is a very fine and interesting person. It’s nice to listen to him, while he talks about his experiences and challenges as a Federal Councillor. He likes to smoke the pipe and is far more funnier than one might think. A well-known publicist once invited him to a “work-lunch”. Otto Stich replied, that firstly, it is not his custom to eat, while he works, and secondly, not his custom to work while he eats. And thirdly, he actually prefers to do both without the publicist.

Otto Stich was born in 1927, son of a mechanic, in a house where politics was a daily topic of conversation. Stich studied political science and became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland shortly after the end of WW II. He was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on December 7, 1983 and handed over office on October 31, 1995. During his time in office he held the Federal Department of Finance and was President of the Confederation twice in 1988 and 1994. Even after his resignation, he continued to participate in political discussions.

He died on September 13, 2012 at the age of 85.
Source: Wikipedia