Jörg De Bernardi

Jörg De Bernardi (born 1973) is a Swiss diplomat and politician. He held the office of Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland between August 2016 and December 2018, in charge of the Federal Council's affairs.[1]

Jörg De Bernardi
Portrait of Jörg De Bernardi
Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland
In office 1 August 2016 – 30 April 2019
Preceded by	Thomas Helbling
Succeeded by	Viktor Rossi
Personal details
Born	1973 (age 49–50) Switzerland
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Neuchâtel University of Zürich

After growing up in the Canton of Ticino, De Bernardi graduated at the faculty of Theology at the University of Neuchâtel in 1998, and followed up with a master's degree in Applied Ethics at the University of Zürich in 2002.[2] He joined the diplomatic service of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in 2003, and was stationed in Bern and Addis Ababa. Between 2008 and 2011, he worked within the WTO section of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.[3]

In March 2011, the Canton of Ticino named De Bernardi their delegate for relations with the Federal Government.[4] The Federal Council named him Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland on 5 June 2016, as the successor to Thomas Helbling. He held the office since August that same year, and was in charge of managing the Federal Councils' meetings, as well as seven organizational units within the Federal Chancellery.[5][1] De Bernardi was the first representative of the Canton of Ticino within the Federal Government in 17 years, since Flavio Cotti's retirement.[3] In August 2018, he announced his resignation from the post for April 2019, citing family reasons, but continues working within the Federal Chancellery in a different capacity.[6]