Eduard von Steiger | |
|---|---|
 Official portait, 1951 | |
| 51st President of the Swiss Confederation | |
| In office 1 January 1951 – 31 December 1951 | |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Marie Musy |
| Constituency | Canton of Bern |
| Member of the Federal Council (Switzerland) | |
| In office 1 January 1941 – 31 December 1951 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Adolf Eduard von Steiger 2 July 1881 Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland |
| Died | 10 February 1962 (aged 80) Bern, Switzerland |
| Spouse |
Beatrice Gabrielle von Muelinen
(m. 1914) |
| Relations | René Derolez (son-in-law) |
| Children | 1 |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
| Signature |  |
Adolf Eduard von Steiger (German: [ˈeːduˌaʁt fɔn ˈʃtaɪɡɐ]; 2 July 1881 – 10 February 1962) was a Swiss lawyer and politician who served as the 51st President of the Swiss Confederation twice in 1945 and 1951 for Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents (presently known as Swiss People's Party). Von Steiger served as a Member of the Federal Council (Switzerland) from 1941 to 1951 and previously on the Grand Council of Bern from 1914 to 1939.[1]
Most notably he is known for his policy towards the immigration of Jewish refugees during World War II trying to enter Switzerland fleeing Nazism.[2][3] Von Steiger was against the immigration of Jews and was known for his sentence "the boat is full" (which was later turned into the movie The Boat Is Full).[4] In 2013, his birth town of Langnau im Emmental, intended to revoke his honorary municipal citizenship which he held there since 1944.[5][6]
Von Steiger has been a lawyer with a private practice in Bern. He also served on a variety of boards such as Schweizerische Volksbank (a predecessor of Credit Suisse) from 1933 to 1940 and Swiss Federal Railways from 1938 to 1940. He also served on the bank council of the Swiss National Bank from 1931 to 1941, during his tenure as Federal Councilor.[7]
- ^ "Ratsmitglied ansehen". Federal Assembly. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
- ^ Stephens, Thomas (2017-09-26). "'The boat is full': 75 years later". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
- ^ Kempster, Norman (1998-06-10). "Swiss Slowed Jews' Escape, Report Says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
- ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/25/movies/the-boat-is-full.html
- ^ "Von Steigers Ehrenbürgerrecht | Dodis". www.dodis.ch. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
- ^ "Walliser Bote 19. Februar 2013 — e-newspaperarchives.ch". www.e-newspaperarchives.ch (in German). Retrieved 2024-09-18.
- ^ "Base de données des élites suisses | Steiger, von-Mülinen, von, Eduard (1881 - 1962)". www2.unil.ch. Retrieved 2024-09-18.