Judith Schmutz

Judith Schmutz
President of the Cantonal Council of Lucerne
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 June 2023
Preceded byRolf Born [de]
Member of the Cantonal Council of Lucerne
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 June 2019
ConstituencyHochdorf District
Personal details
Born1996 (1996) (age 27–28)
Müllheim, Thurgau, Switzerland
Political partyGreen Party of Switzerland
Other political
affiliations		Young Greens [de]
Alma mater

Judith Schmutz (German pronunciation: [juˈdɪt ʃmʊts]; born 1996) is a Swiss lawyer and politician who has served as president of the Cantonal Council of Lucerne since 2023. She is the youngest president of the council in the canton's history, and one of the youngest in all of Switzerland. She was first elected to serve on the council in 2019, and represents the Hochdorf District.

Early life and education

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Schmutz was born in 1996 in Müllheim, Switzerland, to Jürg and Beate Schmutz. She grew up in the Canton of Thurgau until 2007, when her family moved to Rain in the Canton of Lucerne after her father became the state archivist.[1][2]

Schmutz attended the Beromünster Cantonal School [de] and spent an exchange year in South Dakota. She later received a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Fribourg and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Lucerne.[3][4] After receiving her master's degree, Schmutz became an intern at the Hochdorf District Court and later joined a law firm in Lucerne.[3][5]

Political career

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Inspired by her experiences in the United States, Schmutz joined the Green Party of Switzerland at age 16 and became politically active.[2][4] She was a member of the Lucerne youth parliament from 2014 until 2018, and was a national co-president of the Young Greens [de] from 2016 until 2018.[1][5] She also became a board member of the local branch of the World Wildlife Fund in 2020.[1]

Schmutz was elected to the Cantonal Council of Lucerne in the 2019 elections, representing the Hochdorf constituency.[1][6] While in the council, she spoke against a proposal which would allocate 500 million francs for the construction of new roads in Lucerne, arguing that the canton should focus on public transportation instead. She also accused the cantonal government of lowering benchmark targets to signal to the national government that public transportation was not a major issue in Lucerne.[7] Schmutz was vice president of the cantonal council from 2022 until 2023.[5][8] She was re-elected to the council in the 2023 elections, receiving the highest number of votes on the Green Party list.[6]

On 19 June 2023, Schmutz was elected to a one-year term as president of the Lucerne Cantonal Council, receiving 93 out of 116 councillor votes.[6][9] Aged 26, she became the youngest council president in the canton's history, and one of the youngest in all of Switzerland.[10][11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Schmutz Judith". Lucerne Cantonal Council [de] (in German). Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b Marolf, Stefan (13 October 2023). "Jung, streng und grün wie eine Gurke: Judith Schmutz ist in Müllheim aufgewachsen und mit 26 Jahren die höchste Luzernerin" [Young, Strict and Green as a Cucumber: Judith Schmutz Grew Up in Müllheim and, at 26, is the Highest-ranking Lucerne Woman]. Thurgauer Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Präsidium Kantonsrat" [Cantonal Council Presidium]. Greens of the Canton of Lucerne (in German). Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Die Kantonsratspräsidentin Judith Schmutz im Interview: «Politik geht alle etwas an, auch Alltag ist Politik»" [Cantonal Council President Judith Schmutz in an Interview: "Politics is Everyone’s Business, Everyday Life is Also Politics"]. Anzeiger Michelsamt (in German). 3 March 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Judith Schmutz ist mit 26 höchste Luzernerin" [At 26, Judith Schmutz is Lucerne’s Highest-Ranking Resident]. PilatusToday (in Swiss High German). 19 June 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Nussbaumer, Lukas (19 June 2023). "Kantonsrat wählt die Grüne Judith Schmutz zur höchsten Luzernerin" [Cantonal Council Elects Green Party Judith Schmutz as Lucerne's Highest-Ranking Woman]. Luzerner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  7. ^ Wildisen, Elio (30 November 2022). "Sorge um Durchgangsbahnhof: «Fatales Signal nach Bern»" [Concern About the Through Station: "Fatal Signal to Bern"]. Zentralplus [de] (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  8. ^ "FDP-Kantonsrat Rolf Born ist neu der höchste Luzerner" [FDP Cantonal Councilor Rolf Born is Now the Highest Lucerner]. Zentralplus [de] (in Swiss High German). 21 June 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  9. ^ Wüst, Leonard (19 June 2023). "Luzerner Kantonsrat wählt Judith Schmutz zur Präsidentin" [Lucerne Cantonal Council Elects Judith Schmutz President]. Innerschweiz Online (in German). Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Jüngste Ratspräsidentin Luzerns: Judith Schmutz machts" [Lucerne's Youngest Council President: Judith Schmutz Does It]. Zentralplus [de] (in Swiss High German). 19 June 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Judith Schmutz ist jüngste Kantonsratspräsidentin Luzerns" [Judith Schmutz is Lucerne's Youngest Cantonal Council President]. Nau (in German). 23 June 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2024.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Judith Schmutz.
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