Biography
| 1932 | Born in Rome, as son of Swiss parents from Lugano (Ticino/Switzerland)
Schools in Rome and Lugano, High School diploma in literature and humanities
Studies at the Universities of Zurich, Paris and Rome |
| 1957 | Graduated with a doctorate in law from the University of Zurich |
| 1957-59 | Banking in Zurich |
| 1960-68 | Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs (diplomatic posts at The Hague, Bonn, Rome) |
| 1969-73 | Deputy Head of the Swiss Delegation to EFTA, GATT, UNCTAD and ECE/UN in Geneva |
| 1973-75 | Deputy Secretary General of EFTA in Geneva |
| 1976-83 | Federal Office for External Economic Affairs in Berne (Minister plenipotentiary, Ambassador, Delegate of the Swiss Government for Trade Agreements) |
| 1984-86 | State Secretary for External Economic Affairs in Bern |
| 1987-99 | President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva |
| 2000 | Member of the Panel on UN Peace Operations |
| 2000-01 | Member of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) |
| 2000-07 | Chairman of the Karl Popper Foundation, Zug |
| 2000-07 | Member of the Board of the Open Society Institute, Budapest (Hungary) |
| 2000-07 | President, then member, of the Council of the Swiss Foundation Caux - Initiatives of Change |
| 2000+ | Honorary Member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) |
| 2000+ | President of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) |
| 2000+ | Member of the Board of the Accentus Foundation, Zurich |
| 2006+ | Member of the Foundation for the Future |
| 2006+ | Chairman of the UICC International Cancer Foundation |
| 2007+ | Honorary Chair of Initiatives of Change International, Caux (Switzerland) |
Honorary Doctorates
University of Fribourg (Switzerland), 1985; University of Minho, Braga (Portugal), 1990; University of Bologna (Italy), 1991; University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis (France), 1992; Seoul National University (Republic of Korea), 1992; University of Geneva (Switzerland), 1997; Webster University of Saint Louis (USA), 1998.
Presidential Awards
University of Tel Aviv (Israel); Comenius University, Bratislava (Slovakia); Karl's University, Prague (Czech Republic); Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, Tufts University, Boston (USA), 2003.
| 2001 | North - South Prize of the Council of Europe |
| 2003 | Prize of the Foreign Press Association in Switzerland for the most popular Swiss personality |
| 2003 | Prize of the Foundation Brandenberger, Lugano |
| 1977-78 | President of the UN Economic Commission for Europe |
| 1982-84 | Co-Chairman of the Commissione consultiva culturale Italo-Svizzera |
State Decorations of Belgium, France, Holy See, Italy, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Sweden
Red Cross and Red Crescent Awards from numerous National Societies
Married, four daughters, two sons, 15 Grandchildren.
Conferences and publications
12.04.2008
Pontificio Collegio della Giustizia e della Pace : DISARMO SVILUPPO E PACE, PROSPETTIVE PER UN DISARMO INTEGRALE English and Italian PDF 90KB
05.03.2008
Università Bocconi Milano : PIÛ UMANITÂ PER L’UMANITÂ, DIPLOMAZIA UMANITARIA E CROCE ROSSA Italian PDF 119KB
29.11.2007
One Day Symposium on Landmines to Mark the 10th Anniversary of the Signing of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention : The Oslo/Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, A Model for a New Active Peace Policy? PDF 118KB
18.11.2007
Statement at the Opening Session of the Eighth Meeting of the States Parties PDF 100KB
18.09.2007
10th Anniversary of the 1997 Mine Ban Convention, Oslo PDF 13KB
08.09.2007
Assemblée des délégués du mouvement scout de Suisse Responsabilité et solidarité: Parties intégrantes de l'aventure scout au XXIème sciècle French PDF 28KB
13.11.2006
Intervention to the Third Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, Special Plenary Meeting to Mark the Entry into Force of CCW Protocol V PDF 80KB
02.06.2006
Otto Karrer-Vorlesung 2006 : GLOBALISIERUNG DER VERANTWORTUNG - Mehr Menschlichkeit für die Menschheit German PDF 57KB
29.04.2006
Journée de Penthes 2006 : L'image de la Suisse dans le monde - états, problémes, nouvelles pistes ? Une Suisse vertueuse ? - l'humanitaire comme facteur de mise en valeur French PDF 24KB
10.01.2006
Jahresrapport Humanitäre Minenräumung VBS, Bern : Verantwortung in der Zeit der Globalisierung: Der Einsatz für menschliche Sicherheit als staendige Herausforderung German PDF 95KB
22.04.2005
The Responsibility to Prevent PDF 114KB
22.04.2004
Webster University Geneva, Ninth Annual Humanitarian Conference: La responsabilité de protéger PDF 78KB
