It fills us with sadness that our former Trustee Flavio Cotti passed away on Wednesday. Our thoughts are with his family, to whom we extend our sincere condolences.
Flavio Cotti was a member of the Jacobs Foundation Board from 1999 to 2010. With his eloquence and acumen, which he was able to express in so many languages, he was instrumental in shaping our activities. Born in Ticino and a lawyer by training, education was a matter close to his heart, which he always understood as a path to personal development and social participation.
As a Federal Councilor, Flavio Cotti headed the Department of Home Affairs from 1987 to 1993 and the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1999. Flavio Cotti was President of the Swiss Confederation in 1991 and 1998. His great personal role model was Nelson Mandela, whom he visited in Cape Town in 1998 as President of the Swiss Confederation.