Livia Leu Agosti

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Livia Leu Agosti
Livia Leu Agosti (2016)
Secretary of State of Switzerland
Assumed office
14 October 2020
Swiss Ambassador to France and Monaco
In office
3 September 2018 – 14 October 2020
Personal details
Born
Livia Leu

1961 (age 62–63)
Zürich, Switzerland
SpouseDonat Agosti
Children2
Alma materGraduate Institute of International Studies
OccupationAttorney and diplomat

Livia Leu stylized Leu Agosti (/lɒɪ/;loy born 1961) is a Swiss attorney and diplomat. She currently serves as the State Secretary and EU-negotiator since 14 October 2020.[1] Leu previously served as the Swiss Ambassador to Iran between 2009 and 2013. She was the first female from Europe to hold this position.[2][3] From 2018 to 2020, she served as the Swiss Ambassador to France and Monaco. In fall 2023, she will succeed Paul Seger as Swiss Ambassador to Germany.[4]

Early life and education[edit]

Leu was born in 1961 in Zürich, Switzerland however her parents hailed from Grisons.[5] Her father was famed Swiss hotelier and restaurateur Hans C. Leu (1930-2017). She was primarily raised in Arosa, where she attended local schools.[6] She completed her Matura in Chur and then studied Jurisprudence at University of Zürich and University of Lausanne graduating in 1989 with a Licentiate.

Career[edit]

Leu Agosti meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011

In 1989, after graduating, Leu entered the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and initially was employed as a trainee in Bern, Paris and Geneva. Since May 1991 she held the position as a diplomatic associate in the section United Nations/International Organizations. In 1994, she was transferred to the UN Headquarters in New York City, where she held the position of 2nd Embassy Secretary and was promoted to 1st Embassy Secretary in 1995 respectively to Embassy Counselor in 1998.[7] Later she became vice chairman of the Swiss delegation in Cairo, and a member of the group responsible for dealing with the nuclear program of Iran.[8]

Leu Agosti meets with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. in June 2021.


Before serving as the Ambassador to Iran, Agosti was the head of the African and European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland. Leu Agosti, has brought her sons, along with her husband, to Iran.

Her husband, who is a biologist, an expert, and a researcher in the field of ants, is busy working in Iran. Before her departure,[9] she announced that she would send her children to a German school in Iran. In 2018 she became the first woman to be the Swiss Ambassador to France and Monaco.[10] She left her post on 14 October 2020.

In 2020, she was appointed State Secretary and EU-negotiator by the Swiss government. In 2023, it became public that she would be succeeding Paul Seger as Ambassador to Germany.

Personal life[edit]

Leu is married to Donat Agosti,[11] who is a myrmecologist. They have two sons.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Der Bundesrat ernennt Livia Leu zur neuen Staatssekretärin". www.eda.admin.ch (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  2. ^ Tait, Robert (15 January 2009). "Swiss ambassador is first female envoy to Iran since revolution" – via www.theguardian.com.
  3. ^ "Livia Leu Agosti ambassadeur au SECO". www.seco.admin.ch. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Livia Leu wird Schweizer Botschafterin in Berlin". www.admin.ch. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  5. ^ «Ein Empfang bedeutet ja nicht, dass man einfach Champagner trinkt» esther-girsberger.ch
  6. ^ "Die erste Schweizer Botschafterin im Iran". Berner Zeitung (in German). 26 July 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Ernennungen im EDA". www.admin.ch. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Switzerland's first female ambassador in Paris". SWI swissinfo.ch. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  9. ^ swissinfo.ch, S. W. I.; Corporation, a branch of the Swiss Broadcasting. "Former Ambassador Livia Leu Agosti honoured". SWI swissinfo.ch.
  10. ^ swissinfo.ch, S. W. I.; Corporation, a branch of the Swiss Broadcasting. "Switzerland's first female ambassador in Paris". SWI swissinfo.ch.
  11. ^ https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=mr4ptE4AAAAJ&hl=en
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