17 July 2016(2016-07-17) (aged 74) Bern, Switzerland
Achille Casanova (2 October 1941 – 17 July 2016)[1] was a Swiss journalist and politician. He held the office of Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland between 1981 and 2005, and during this time became the first official spokesman for the Swiss Federal Council when that role was created on 1 September 2000.[2][3]
During his tenure, Achille Casanova worked with 26 different Federal Councillors (out of 108 ever elected by the time of his resignation), participated in over 1180 Federal Council sessions, and officiated under three different Chancellors.[4] While he was a candidate for the office twice himself, the Swiss Federal Assembly elected other candidates every time.
Fluent in German, French, Italian and English, his resignation sparked a minor row over language representation within the Swiss Federal government, when his successor, Oswald Sigg, was named over several candidates from Swiss-French and Swiss-Italian regions. This was compounded by the fact that his office (the second Vice-chancellor, in charge of the Information & Communication sector) had initially been created in 1895 on an ad hoc basis, to add a senior representative of the French and Italian speaking regions when both the Chancellor and the other Vice-chancellors came from German-speaking cantons.[5]
^Wili, Hans-Urs (24 May 2005). "Chancelier de la Confédération". Dictionnaire Historique de la Suisse (in French). Bern. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
^Bertozzi, Adeo (29 June 2005). "Abschied von Achille Casanova". Nachrichten.ch (in German). St. Gallen: Vadian.net AG. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2009.