Ruth Dreifuss Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Ruth Dreifuss
Dreifuss in 2014

President of Switzerland
In office 1 January 1999 – 31 December 1999
Vice President	Adolf Ogi
Preceded by	Flavio Cotti
Succeeded by	Adolf Ogi
Vice President of Switzerland
In office 1 January 1998 – 31 December 1998
President	Flavio Cotti
Preceded by	Flavio Cotti
Succeeded by	Adolf Ogi
Minister of Home Affairs
In office 10 March 1993 – 31 December 2002
Preceded by	Flavio Cotti
Succeeded by	Pascal Couchepin
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
In office 1 April 1993 – 31 December 2002
Preceded by	René Felber
Succeeded by	Micheline Calmy-Rey

Personal details
Born	(1940-01-09) 9 January 1940 (age 85) St. Gallen, Switzerland
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Geneva

Ruth Dreifuss (born 9 January 1940) is a Swiss economist and politician. She was a member of the Federal Council (Switzerland), which is like the government cabinet of Switzerland, from 1993 to 2002. She also served as Vice President of Switzerland in 1998. In 1999, she became the President of Switzerland. She was a member of the Social Democratic Party.

Early Life and Education
Career Before Politics
Becoming a Federal Council Member
Key Political Actions
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Education

Ruth Dreifuss was born on January 9, 1940, in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She was the second child of Sidney Dreifuss, a merchant, and Jeanne Bicard, a secretary. Her older brother, Jean-Jacques Dreifuss, became a professor. Her family has deep roots in Switzerland.

In 1945, when Ruth was five years old, her family moved to Geneva. She went to École de Sécheron starting in 1947. After secondary school, she completed a business diploma. In 1958, she began studying social sciences. At the same time, she took courses at the University of Geneva. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Economics from this university in 1970. She was 30 years old at the time.

Career Before Politics

After her business education, Ruth Dreifuss worked as a secretary and a social worker. She also worked as a journalist for a newspaper called Cooperation from 1961 to 1964. In 1964, she joined the Socialist Party (SP).

From 1972 to 1981, she was a scientific expert. She worked for the Federal Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Later, she became the Secretary of the Swiss Trade Union. In this role, she focused on important topics like social insurance, labor laws, and women's rights. She continued this work until she was elected to the Swiss Federal Council in 1993.

Ruth Dreifuss (1988) by Erling Mandelmann

Ruth Dreifuss in 1988

From 1989 to 1992, Dreifuss was a member of the City of Bern's Legislative Assembly. This is like a city council. She tried to get elected to the National Council of Switzerland in 1991 but was not successful.

Ruth Dreifuss is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders. This is a group of current and former female leaders from around the world. Their goal is to work together on important issues for women and fair development.

Becoming a Federal Council Member

Ruth Dreifuss (left) and Christiane Brunner on March 8, 1993

When René Felber resigned from the Swiss Federal Council, a new member from the Social Democratic Party needed to be chosen. This was part of an unofficial rule called the "magic formula". This rule helps decide how many members each party gets in the Federal Council.

The Social Democratic Party first chose Christiane Brunner as their candidate. However, some other parties decided to support a different Social Democratic Party member, Francis Matthey. He was a member of parliament and a minister in the Canton of Neuchâtel. But Francis Matthey said no to the election because his own party did not support him.

A new election was held on March 10, 1993. This time, the Social Democratic Party put forward both Ruth Dreifuss and Christiane Brunner as their official candidates. It was the first time that two women were officially nominated for the election. Ruth Dreifuss was elected in the third round of voting with 144 votes.

Key Political Actions

Ruth Dreifuss was in charge of the Federal Department of Home Affairs. This department deals with many important issues inside the country. She held this position until she resigned on December 31, 2002.

She made history by becoming the first woman ever to be elected President of the Confederation. She served as president from January 1 to December 31, 1999.

During her time in office, she helped pass several important laws. These included changes to the Health Insurance Bill and the social security system. She also worked on a drug policy that focused on prevention, therapy, help, and rehabilitation. A new law for the film industry was also passed. Her "4-pillar policy" helped reduce the spread of the AIDS epidemic. This included a new policy to provide clean syringes.

She also worked on a law for Maternity Insurance. However, most of the Federal Council did not agree with her proposal. Because of this, she had to ask the public to vote against her own text. This showed her respect for the rule of collegiality, where all council members support decisions together.

Today, Ruth Dreifuss is a member and former leader of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. She is also a member of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty.