Daniel Brelaz, a Swiss politician celebrated as the first Green politician elected to a national parliament globally, has died following a heart attack, his family said Sunday. He was 75 years old.
Early Political Career and Parliamentary Service
Brelaz was first elected to the National Council, the lower house of Switzerland’s Federal Assembly, in 1979. Prior to that, he was elected to the Vaud cantonal legislature in 1978 after becoming involved in environmental politics campaigning against the construction of a nuclear power plant.
He served three terms in the National Council: from 1979 to 1989, from 2007 to 2011, and from 2015 to 2022. He retired before the end of his final term following a fall at home.
Mayor of Lausanne and Environmental Legacy
In 2001, Brelaz became the first directly-elected Green mayor in Switzerland, serving as mayor of Lausanne, the country’s fifth-largest city, for 15 years.
Upon his retirement in 2022, Brelaz expressed pride in the growing environmental consciousness within Swiss politics, stating that concerns such as sustainable economics and recycling, initially considered novel, had come to shape the country’s political future.
The Vaud cantonal executive described Brelaz as “a remarkable figure in every respect, thanks to his stature, his keen intelligence, and his mental arithmetic skills.”
Born in 1950, Brelaz graduated in mathematics from Lausanne’s EPFL university in 1975 and worked as a teacher.
A memorial service will be held at Lausanne Cathedral at a date to be arranged, according to his family.
The Green Party currently holds 23 seats in the 200-member National Council, making it the fifth-largest party, followed by the Green Liberal Party with 11 seats.
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