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Jacqueline Badran

Swiss businesswoman and politician (born 1961) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jacqueline Badran
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Jacqueline "Jackie" Badran[1][2] (German pronunciation: [ˈʒakliːn baˈdraːn]; born 12 November 1961) is a Swiss businesswoman and politician who currently serves on the National Council (Switzerland) since 2011.[3] Since 2020, she concurrently serves as vice president of the Social Democratic Party.[4]

Quick facts Jaqueline Badran, Member of the National Council (Switzerland) ...

She is primarily known for her efforts in regard to affordable housing, including a campaign to ban Airbnb.[5][6][7] She also holds Australian citizenship.[8] She is one of the survivors of the Crossair Flight 3597 crash.

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Early life and education

Badran was born 12 November 1961 in Sydney, Australia, one of two daughters, to Frederick George Badran, a Lebanese Australian businessman in the textile industry, and Swiss-born Helga Badran (née Horisberger;[9] later Countess Fabbricotti; born 1936). She has an older sister Karin Tamina Deilmann (née Badran).[10][11]

Her father was a Lebanese Christian from Beirut who came to Australia in the 1920s where he built up several businesses from scratch, including textile firm Badran's of Wollongong.[12][13] Later he was able to build a factory for menswear.[14] Her father was introduced to her Swiss-born mother while staying at the Baur au Lac in Zurich on a business trip.

Badran spent her early years living in Darling Point, Sydney, before relocating to Zurich in 1966.[15][16][17] She attended the local schools before spending two gap years traveling the world before studying biology at the University of Zurich.[18] Badran also obtained a licentiate in economics and political science from the University of St. Gallen.[18]

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Professional career

During her studies she worked as a ski instructor and at the counter of a cinema.[19] In 2000, together with two business partners, she founded a user-centered design agency, Zeix AG,[20] which she has been CEO of since 2004.[21][22]

Political career

In 1991 she joined the Social Democratic Party (SP)[23] for which she was elected to the municipal council in of Zurich 2002 in which she stayed until 2011.[18] She was elected to the Swiss National Council in the Swiss parliamentary elections in 2011[24] and re-elected in the parliamentary elections in 2015 and 2019.[24] In January 2020, she announced her candidacy for the vice presidency of the SP, but under the condition that Mattea Meyer and Cedric Wermuth would become the copresidents.[25] Since December 2020, she is the vice-president of the SP. Following an exhaustive, but successful campaign against the abolishment of the Issuance Tax, she announced a pause from politics for a few months.[26]

Political positions

She became known nationally as a local politician in Zurich through her consistent and successful fight to preserve the Lex Koller (a law prohibiting non-residents from owning land in Switzerland).[22] On several occasions she has been strongly committed to working out counter-proposals to popular initiatives.[19]

Personal life

In 1992, Badran married Victor Kemper, a Dutch bicycle messenger, who took his wife’s surname.[19] They have no children.

Badran holds Swiss and Australian dual citizenship.[27] Badran survived two serious disasters:[28] In 1993, she was buried by an avalanche in the Engadin.[29] On 24 November 2001, she survived the crash of Crossair Flight 3597 near Bassersdorf, which killed 24 people.[30]

References

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