2010 in Switzerland

Events in the year 2010 in Switzerland.

Incumbents

• President of the Swiss Confederation: Doris Leuthard
• President of the National Council: Jean-René Germanier
• President of the Swiss Council of States: Hansheiri Inderkum

Events

• 6 January: Extreme weather across Europe leads to dozens of deaths, including at least 7 as a result of an avalanche in Switzerland.
• 4 February: Switzerland agrees to accept two Chinese Muslim Uyghurs from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
• 25 February: Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi calls for jihad against Switzerland after a referendum last year supported a ban on minarets and other rows between the two nations.
• 7 February: Voters in Switzerland take part in a referendum on whether to provide lawyers for non-human animals and other issues.
• 19 March: Switzerland ceases to deport asylum seekers in response to the death of a Nigerian man at Zürich Airport as he was being forcefully deported. Nigeria condemns the occurrence.
• 10 June: Max Goeldi, the Swiss businessman at the centre of a long-running diplomatic row between Libya and Switzerland, is released from prison in Tripoli.
• 14 June: The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland rules that Romanian footballer Adrian Mutu has lost his final appeal in a five-year legal battle meaning he has to pay a record €17 million in damages for breaching his contract.
• 12 July: Switzerland rejects a request from the United States to extradite Franco–Polish film director Roman Polanski to face sentencing on charges of unlawful sex with a minor in 1977.
• 3–11 December – The 2010 European Curling Championships take place in Champéry.
• 5 December: Bank officials attempt to shut down an account opened by Julian Assange in Switzerland.

Arts and entertainment

• 63rd Locarno Film Festival

Sports

• 15 February: 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver: Dario Cologna secures Switzerland's first ever Olympic cross-country gold medal and Norway delivers its poorest ever cross-country Olympic performance in the men's 15km freestyle cross-country competition

Deaths

• 8 January – Raymond Kamber, 79, Olympic sprint canoer.
• 17 February – Roger-Émile Aubry, 86, Swiss-born Bolivian Roman Catholic prelate, Vicar Apostolic of Reyes (1973–1999).
• 25 February – Ernst Beyeler, 88, art collector.
• 26 February – Charles le Gai Eaton, 89, Swiss-born British diplomat and author.
• 27 February – Roger Veeser, 90, Olympic athlete.
• 2 April – Roman Bannwart, 90, theologian and musician.
• 14 April:
• Erika Burkart, 88, author.
• Alice Miller, 87, Polish-born Swiss author and psychologist.
• 15 April – Peter-Josef Schallberger, 78, farmer and politician.
• 16 April – Balthasar Burkhard, 65, photographer.
• 15 May – Loris Kessel, 60, racing driver.
• 18 May:
• Iskender Alptekin, 48, politician
• Karin Iten, 53, figure skater.
• 2 June – Marguerite Narbel, 92, biologist and politician, member of the Grand Council of Vaud.
• 28 June – Nicolas Hayek, 82, entrepreneur, founder and chairman of The Swatch Group.
• 8 July – Robert Freitag, 94, Austrian-born Swiss actor.
• 19 July – Antoinette Meyer, 90, Olympic silver medal-winning (1948) alpine skier.
• 11 August – Markus Liebherr, 62, businessman, owner of Southampton F.C.
• 15 September – Peter Stebler, 83, Olympic silver medal-winning (1948) rower.
• 21 September – Bernard Genoud, 68, Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Lausanne, Genève et Fribourg (1999–2010).
• 5 October – Steve Lee, 47, musician (Gotthard).
• 22 October – René Villiger, 79, painter.
• 25 October – Hans Arnold, 85, Swiss-born Swedish artist.
• 31 October – Max Barandun, 68, Olympic sprinter.
• 10 November – Georges Aeschlimann, 90, cyclist.
• 3 December – Hugues Cuénod, 108, tenor.
• 11 December:
• Roger Nicole, 95, Swiss-born American Evangelical Christian theologian.
• Peter Risi, 60, footballer.
• 27 December – Walter Balmer, 62, footballer.

References