Vice Chancellor André Simonazzi

André Simonazzi, Vice Chancellor since April 2009 (photo Rolf Weiss, 2016).

André Simonazzi was born in Monthey in the canton of Valais in 1968. He attended secondary school at the Collège de l’Abbaye in St. Maurice, obtaining a Latin and English baccalaureate in 1988. He studied international relations in Geneva at the Graduate Institute of International Relations, graduating in 1992.

After his studies, André Simonazzi trained as a journalist at La Nouvelliste before joining the aid organisation Caritas Switzerland in 1995; there he held the post of spokesman for French-speaking Switzerland before becoming head of the information department.

In 2004, he joined the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), initially as Deputy Head of the Information Service, then as Head. André Simonazzi was appointed Spokesman for the Federal Council on 12 November 2008 with effect from 1 April 2009.

Further information

https://www.bk.admin.ch/content/bk/en/home/bk/vice-chancellor-andre-simonazzi.html