38 Facts About Christoph Blocher

Christoph Blocher was born 11 October 1940 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, the seventh of eleven children, to Wolfram and Ida.

Christoph Blocher's father was a pastor and his mother a homemaker.

Christoph Blocher served in the Swiss military as an Aerial Defense Regiment Commander and Colonel.

Christoph Blocher earned a certificate at the Wulflingen school of agriculture.

In 1961, Christoph Blocher began studying independently for the Swiss Matura.

In 1963, Christoph Blocher completed and passed the exams for the Swiss Matura, and in 1964, he passed an additional exam in Latin to pursue legal studies at university.

Christoph Blocher then studied law at the University of Zurich, in Montpellier, and in Paris.

Christoph Blocher has a DEA degree in law, and in 1971, he was awarded a doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of Zurich.

Christoph Blocher started working at EMS-Chemie in 1969 as a student in its legal department.

In 1972, Christoph Blocher was voted Chairman of the Board and CEO of the company, and in 1983, he purchased a majority of EMS-Chemie.

When Christoph Blocher was voted into the Swiss Federal Council in 2003, he retired from all business functions in EMS and sold his majority holding to his four children on 30 December 2003.

In 2014, Christoph Blocher bought shares of the newspaper Basler Zeitung and then bought the free newspaper Zehnder.

Christoph Blocher built his political career by campaigning for smaller government, for a free-market economy, against Switzerland's membership in the European Union and for more tightly controlled immigration.

Christoph Blocher stated he entered the political arena by chance due to a local zoning dispute.

Christoph Blocher joined the SVP in 1972 and became the SVP president of the SVP chapter in Meilen in 1974.

In 1982, Christoph Blocher founded Arbeitsgruppe Sudliches Afrika, a pro-South Africa working group made up of Swiss members of parliament, such as Ulrich Schluer.

When Christoph Blocher was elected president of the Zurich SVP in 1977, he declared his intent to oversee significant change in the political line of the Zurich SVP, bringing an end to debates that aimed to open the party up to a wide array of opinions.

Christoph Blocher soon consolidated his power in Zurich, and began to renew the organisational structures, activities, campaigning style and political agenda of the local branch.

Christoph Blocher personally topped the poll in Zurich, and became Switzerland's most prominent and controversial politician.

Christoph Blocher took the seat of Ruth Metzler-Arnold, only the third federal councillor in history not to be reelected.

In July 2006, a commission of the Council of States reprimanded Christoph Blocher, stating that the setting of false prejudice and making false statement to the Council of States constituted unacceptable behaviour for a Federal Councillor.

On 5 September 2007, a parliamentary committee sharply criticised Christoph Blocher for overstepping his mandate in his handling of the resignation of former chief prosecutor Valentin Roschacher in 2006.

Christoph Blocher was a target for the opposition on 18 September 2007, when his appearance at the Comptoir suisse in Lausanne was disrupted by protesters.

In January 2012, it was reported that Christoph Blocher had received information from an unnamed whistleblower regarding foreign exchange trades at Bank Sarasin made by Swiss National Bank chairman Philipp Hildebrand's wife Kashya.

Christoph Blocher had called for Hildebrand's resignation in 2011 in the wake of SNB's foreign exchange-related losses and continued strong calls after the FX-trades story grew, before Hildebrand ultimately resigned.

Christoph Blocher thus became the fourth federal councillor to be ousted from office in the history of the Swiss Federal State, following Ruth Metzler whom he had replaced the previous term, besides Ulrich Ochsenbein and Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel in the 19th century.

In 2008, Christoph Blocher became one of the five vice presidents of the SVP.

Christoph Blocher was important in the success of the 9 February 2014 referendum on immigration quotas in Switzerland and continues to support policies designed to limit immigration to Switzerland.

In January 2016, soon after the 2015 federal election, where the Swiss People's Party received record gains, Christoph Blocher announced that he would not stand for reelection as vice president of the SVP when his term ended in April.

Christoph Blocher supported the popular initiative "For the effective expulsion of foreign criminals", held on 28 February 2016, but after its rejection, Christoph Blocher urged the SVP to use its position in the government, rather than popular initiatives, to advance its agenda.

Christoph Blocher continued advocating against Swiss membership in the European Union, and for strengthing Swiss neutrality.

In March 2018, the SVP announced that Christoph Blocher would resign as the party's chief strategist, though he would continue to remain involved in Swiss politics.

On 19 January 2024, Christoph Blocher announced he would retire from politics.

Christoph Blocher is seen by some political observers as the face of the SVP, and his presence in the party was a major factor in voter turnout among SVP voters.

Christoph Blocher's father was the president of a civil engineering firm.

Christoph Blocher has resided in Feldmeilen since the 1970s until relocating into his newly-built residence Haus zum Rosenhorn in Herrliberg in the early 2000s.

Additionally, Christoph Blocher retains the lifetime right of residence at the Rhazuns Castle, in Rhazuns, Grisons, which has been owned by EMS-Chemie since 1946.

Christoph Blocher restored the castle thoroughly and takes no government subsidies for its maintenance, which nets about $550,000 annually.