Karin Keller-Sutter

Karin Keller-Sutter
Official portrait, 2026
President of Switzerland
In office
1 January 2025 – 31 December 2025
Vice PresidentGuy Parmelin
Preceded byViola Amherd
Succeeded byGuy Parmelin
Vice President of Switzerland
In office
1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024
PresidentViola Amherd
Preceded byViola Amherd
Succeeded byGuy Parmelin
Swiss Federal Councillor
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 January 2019
DepartmentJustice and Police (2019–2022)
Finance (2023–)
Preceded byJohann Schneider-Ammann
President of the Council of States
In office
27 November 2017 – 26 November 2018
Preceded byIvo Bischofberger
Succeeded byJean-René Fournier
Personal details
BornKarin Maria Sutter
(1963-12-22) 22 December 1963 (age 62)
Uzwil, St. Gallen, Switzerland
PartyFree Democratic Party (until 2009)
FDP.The Liberals (since 2009)
Spouse
Morten Keller
​
(m. 1989)​
Residence(s)Wil, St. Gallen
Alma materZurich University of Applied Sciences
University of Fribourg
Signature
WebsiteFederal Department of Finance website

Karin Maria Keller-Sutter[1] (Swiss Standard German: [ˈkaːriːn ˈkɛlər ˈzʊtər]; née Sutter; born 22 December 1963) is a Swiss politician and pedagogist who has served as a member of the Federal Council of Switzerland since 2019 and as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2025.

Keller-Sutter is a member of the Liberals and serves as the head of the Federal Department of Finance.[2] She previously served on the Council of States (Switzerland) from 2011 to 2019 and from 2017 to 2018 as president of the Council of States. Before that she held several political roles on the cantonal and municipal level.

In 2023, Keller-Sutter was listed as one of the most influential women worldwide by the Financial Times.[3] She was primarily credited for her engagement with the Acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS.

Early life and education

Keller-Sutter was born Karin Maria Sutter on 22 December 1963 in Uzwil, Switzerland, the youngest of four children, to Walter Sutter Sr. (died 1989), a butcher-turned-chef, and Rosa Sutter (née Schnyder; born 1927).[4][5] Her brothers are; Walter "Jesy" Sutter (1950–2025),[6] Rolf Sutter and Bernhard Sutter.[7]

Her paternal family hails from Jonschwil where her parents were the tenants of the restaurant Sonne for many years. Her ancestors were mainly innkeepers and local politicians in St. Gallen.[8] Later, her parents took over the restaurant Ilge in Wil, where she was primarily raised and attended local schools, including Catholic high school before moving to Neuchâtel.

She studied language interpretation at Dolmetscherschule Zürich (now part of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences) followed by studies in political science in London and at the University of Montréal. Later she completed a post-graduate diploma in pedagogy at the University of Fribourg.

Professional career

During her studies, Keller-Sutter worked as an independent translator and conference interpreter. She later became a professor at the vocational school. Keller-Sutter has formerly served as vice president of the board of trustees of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies.[9]

Political career

Keller-Sutter joined the FDP in 1987.[10] She undertook a political career as a municipal councillor in Wil between 1992 and 2000. She presided over the municipal assembly in 1997. From 1996 to 2000, she was a deputy of the Kantonsrat of the canton of St. Gallen, while presiding over the local arm of the FDP.

On 12 March 2000, Keller-Sutter was elected to the Regierungsrat of the canton of St. Gallen, where she was appointed to the department for security and justice. She was also vice president of the conference of cantonal directors for justice and police. She presided over the government in 2006–2007.

On 22 September 2010, Keller-Sutter was a candidate for the Swiss Federal Council to succeed Hans-Rudolf Merz but failed to win the election; Johann Schneider-Ammann, a member of the National Council for the canton of Bern since 1999, won the seat instead.[11] On 23 October 2011, she was elected[10] with 65% of the vote to represent the canton of St. Gallen in the Council of States. She served as president of the Council of States in 2017–2018.

On 8 October 2018, Keller-Sutter again announced her candidacy for the Swiss Federal Council, this time for the seat of recently retired Schneider-Ammann, who had defeated her eight years before.[12] On 5 December 2018, she was elected for the Federal Council with 154 votes out of 237, alongside Viola Amherd of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC).[13]

On 1 January 2025, Keller-Sutter was sworn in as president with Guy Parmelin as acting vice president.[14]

In August 2025, Keller-Sutter came under scrutiny after a call with President Donald Trump about trade tariffs resulted in 39% import tariffs for Switzerland.[15]

Personal life

In 1989, Keller-Sutter married Morten Keller (born 1964), a medical doctor.[16] They have no children and reside in Wil, St. Gallen. The couple owned a Jack Russell Terrier named Picasso, after Pablo Picasso.[17] The dog died in 2019.[18]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Karin Maria Keller-Sutter in Wil - Auskünfte". Moneyhouse (in German). Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  2. ^ "Karin Keller-Sutter". Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  3. ^ Jenkins, Cordelia; Simons, Baya; Rufus, Cherish (30 November 2023). "The FT's 25 most influential women of 2023". www.ft.com. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  4. ^ "Rosa Sutter-Schnyder". St. Galler Tagblatt (in German). 30 November 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  5. ^ Kugler, Friedrich (30 November 2012). "Gastgeberin aus Leidenschaft". St. Galler Tagblatt (in German). Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  6. ^ "President Karin Keller-Sutter loses one of her brothers". blue News. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  7. ^ "Emotionale Bundesratsfamilien sorgen für berührende Szenen - Blick". www.blick.ch. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  8. ^ Die Jonschwiler Wurzeln von Bundesrätin Karin Keller-Sutter (in German) https://www.jonschwil.ch/_docn/5315986/2018_kks.pdf
  9. ^ International Students' Committee, Board of Trustees Archived 22 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ a b Rigendinger, Balz (30 December 2024). "How Karin Keller-Sutter became too big to fail". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  11. ^ « La conseillère d'État saint-galloise Karin Keller-Sutter candidate à la succession de Hans-Rudolf Merz », tsrinfo.ch, 19 août 2010 Archived 15 January 2013 at archive.today
  12. ^ "Karin Keller-Sutter kandidiert für den Bundesrat". Blick. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Karin Keller-Sutter élue par 154 voix au Conseil fédéral". Agefi (in French). Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Switzerland's new president in 2025". Le News. 27 December 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  15. ^ Henley, Jon (4 August 2025). "Swiss president under fire after Trump call leads to US tariffs shock". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Der Arzt an ihrer Seite". 20 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Karin Keller-Sutter: So lebt die FDP-Bundesrätin privat". Schweizer Illustrierte (in Swiss High German). 20 January 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  18. ^ "Karin Keller-Sutter trauert um Hund Picasso". Schweizer Illustrierte (in Swiss High German). 28 March 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Keller-Sutter