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Sociologist and former National Council member Jean Ziegler died on Wednesday at the age of 92. (File photo)
Photo: sda
Jean Ziegler, a native of Thun, died on Wednesday at the age of 92. Throughout his life, he was regarded as a rebel and advocate for people from the so-called Third World. Numerous colleagues have now paid tribute to his commitment.
To some, he was a champion of the vulnerable; to others, a dining companion with the “wrong” views. Jean Ziegler made many friends in his life, but certainly many enemies as well. Ziegler made a name for himself both nationally and internationally. He died on Wednesday at the age of 92.
Jean Ziegler served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food from 2000 to 2008. He was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Human Rights Council. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, described Ziegler on Wednesday as “a champion, above all, for vulnerable populations.”
“I am deeply saddened by this tragic news,” the Austrian, who did not know him personally, told the Keystone-SDA news agency. Türk described Ziegler as a “champion of the human rights ecosystem and an exceptionally strong personality.” Among other things, Jean Ziegler fought for people who had suffered from famines.
As a longtime member of the SP, the perfectly bilingual Ziegler served twice in the National Council for the canton of Geneva. He held his first term from 1967 to 1983 and his second from 1987 to 1999. The Swiss SP honors the deceased as a key figure on the left.
“For the Swiss SP, Jean Ziegler remains a defining figure who fought tirelessly for social justice, international solidarity, and the equality of peoples,” the party wrote.
Through his struggle, he will forever remain a role model for many comrades. Ziegler not only shaped the history of the Social Democratic Party, but through his blunt criticism and tireless commitment also left “an indelible mark on the history of our country.”
In a post on his blog, Bern-based political scientist Claude Longchamp praised Ziegler’s commitment to young people. As a member of the National Council, Ziegler pushed through a parliamentary initiative to lower the voting age to 18, which, however, failed in a 1979 referendum. It was not until twelve years later that the Swiss people approved lowering the voting age from 20 to 18.
Longchamp shared an office with Ziegler in the 1980s while working at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Bern. There, he often had to help “sort through his enormous pile of mail from all over the world,” as the Bernese political scientist writes.
Ziegler’s outspoken left-wing positions rarely went down well with the bourgeois establishment. Among them was the Geneva lawyer and former SVP National Council member Charles Poncet. He saw Ziegler as “an intellectual who believed in the dream of the left.”
“We agreed on almost nothing, except on which people on the left or right were idiots,” Poncet told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday.
The two men met in the National Council in the 1990s. “In Bern, they would go out for light meals like entrecôtes or schnitzel together, without their respective factions knowing,” Poncet recalls. Despite major differences of opinion, Poncet has lost a “friend” with Ziegler’s death.
10.06.2026, 22:29
