Daniel Brelaz, in July 2015. Credit: MANAN VATSYAYANA / AFP / Profimedia
Daniel Brelaz, considered in Switzerland the first Green politician elected to a national parliament in the world, died during the night, at the age of 75, according to the announcement made on Sunday by his family, reports AFP.
Brelaz died of a heart attack, his son told Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS.
He was elected to the National Council, the lower house of the Swiss Federal Assembly, in 1979. When he retired from politics in 2022, he told the national radio station that he was “proud” to have promoted environmental policy.
“I entered the National Council with new concerns, such as the sustainable economy and recycling, not only renewable energy. Forty years later, these concerns have shaped the future of the country's politics,” says the former politician.
Brelaz was born in 1950. Graduated in mathematics from the EPFL university in Lausanne in 1995, he later became a teacher.
After joining environmental politics in a campaign against the construction of a nuclear power plant, he was elected to the legislature of the French-speaking canton of Vaud in 1978.
He became a federal parliamentarian at the age of 29
Brelaz then ran for the federal parliament at the age of 29, while still living with his parents.
He spent three terms on the National Council, 1979-1989, 2007-2011 and 2015-2022.
In Switzerland, the Green Party is currently the fifth largest in the 200-member National Council with 23 seats, followed by the Liberal Green Party with 11.
In 2001, Brelaz became the first directly elected Green mayor in Switzerland and was for about 15 years the mayor of the city of Lausanne, the fifth largest in the country.
“Daniel Brelaz was a remarkable figure in every way,” the Vaud cantonal executive said in a statement.
According to his party, he was the first Green environmentalist politician in a national parliament worldwide, notes swissinfo.ch.
The former politician's family has announced that a service will be held at Lausanne Cathedral.
