STÉPHANE HERZOG Erica Deuber Ziegler welcomes us to her beautiful home, in the hills of the village of Russin, in Geneva. She is the widow of Jean Ziegler, who died in June of Parkinson’s disease, which he called “that crap”. After the funeral, which was held in St. Peter’s Cathedral to the sound of the Internationale, it is time for her to take care of his legacy. The art historian, a former deputy of the Grand Council of Geneva who had met the Berne-born sociologist when typing up the proofs of his works, is sorting through hundreds of cardboard boxes. Some of it will be entrusted to the Federal Archives. The living room table is covered with photocopied obituaries of the former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food worldwide. “A voice against global inequalities” was the headline in “Vatican News”. “The revolutionary in a bespoke suit,” wrote the “NZZ”. There is a wicker basket containing over 300 letters of condolence, including one from former SVP Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher. “They didn’t agree on anything, but they respected each other,” says Deuber Ziegler. The author of “Une Suisse au-dessus de tout soupçon” (1976) [A Switzerland above all suspicion] and “La Suisse lave plus blanc” (1990) [Switzerland washes whiter] was an uncompromising character. His last word was a loud “no” to a nurse who was trying to get him to eat, according to his widow. What impact did Jean Ziegler have on Swiss politics? “He played a fundamental role, not Jean Ziegler, the man who dared to bite the hand that fed him The outspoken socialist Jean Ziegler has died aged 92, after succumbing to a long illness. Known throughout the world, he was both loved and hated in his native land. He helped end banking secrecy and shone a spotlight on how hunger was used as a political weapon. from a legislative perspective but by saying publicly what nobody else had dared to say up till then,” in the view of professor of political science Pascal Sciarini. He spoke out about Nazi gold in Switzerland, unclaimed funds, dictators’ dirty money kept in Swiss bank accounts under the guise of banking secrecy. And “man-made” hunger. Some say that the Geneva native, who travelled to some of the poorest regions on the planet, had no qualms about “biting the hand that fed him”, the hand of Swiss prosperity, partly due to banks. “His knack for finding a killer phrase, and for exaggerating, made him popular amongst the converted and an opponent who needed to be silenced to the targets of his criticism,” says the political scientist, “Rebellious, audacious, and immune to criticism” – Jean Ziegler (1934–2026) Photo: Keystone Swiss Review / October 2026 / No. 4 20 Profile
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