# Daniel Jositsch

Daniel Reuwen Jositsch (German pronunciation:; born 25 March 1965) is a Swiss attorney and politician who currently serves on the Council of States (Switzerland) for the Social Democratic Party representing the Canton of Zürich since 2015. He previously served on the National Council (Switzerland) from 2007 to 2015. He briefly served on the Cantonal Council of Zürich before resigning from the post in the fall of 2007. In 2022 and 2023 he declared candidacy for Federal Council (Switzerland) but both times was not officially nominated by his party.

## Early life and education

Jositsch was born 25 March 1965 in Zürich, Switzerland to Peter Jositsch, an engineer and Edith (née Korek) Jositsch, a homemaker. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent from the Russian Empire on both his paternal and maternal side. His paternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Josselowitsch, became a Swiss citizen in 1913 by taking municipal citizenship in Geroldswil. There were several variants on the spelling of his last name including Joselowitz and Josselowitsch which were both germanized to Jositsch at a later stage. Upon his election campaign for Council of States, Jositsch stated the following about his origins:
   My great-grandfather came from Ukraine to Switzerland in the 19th century, Jositsch explained on occasion of an interview, his Jewish roots are important. I feel connected to this tradition. Although the Judaism does not define my everyday life, but as a parliamentarian I take myself to the interests of the Jewish minority.
Jositsch was raised in the Limmat Valley and completed his Matura in 1984 at Kantonsschule Stadelhofen. He studied law at the University of St. Gallen.

## Career

In 2004 he qualified as a professor at the University of Zurich, and was appointed as Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal auxiliary sciences. In 2012, Jositsch was promoted by the university council to full professor.

## Politics

In spring 2007 Jositsch was elected as a member of the SP Zürich in the parliament of the Canton of Zürich, and since October 2007 he was a member of the Swiss National Council. In the first round of the 2015 Council of States elections in the canton of Zürich, Jositsch won the majority, and for the first time since 32 years, an SP politician will represent the canton of Zürich in the Swiss Council of States (Ständerat).
During the 2023 Swiss federal election, Jositsch had been an opposition candidate, to succeed Alain Berset on the Federal Council (Switzerland), however was not officially nominated by the Social Democratic Party. Despite this he received a respectable number of votes (presumably from the Swiss People's Party and The Liberals) running competitively (second with 70 votes) against the official candidates Jon Pult and Beat Jans. Ultimately, Beat Jans, was elected into office on 13 December 2023. His actions are often titled The Jositsch Coup by press.

## Personal life

Daniel Jositsch is divorced and father of a son. He was in a relationship with Chantal Galladé.
End of October 2015 Jositsch announced to stand for the five-person chairmanship of the Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich (ICZ), the largest Jewish community in Switzerland, on 2 December 2015. The candidacy is a private commitment without a professional or political context.