Claude Janiak (born 30 October 1948) is a Swiss politician of Polish origin, lawyer and President of the Swiss National Council for the 2005/2006 term. Member of the Social Democratic Party (SPS), he was elected to the National Council in 1999 in the canton of Basel-Land and reelected in 2003. In 2007, he was elected to the Swiss Council of States.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Claude_Janiak.jpg/220px-Claude_Janiak.jpg)
He studied law at the University of Basel (1967–1971) and in London. In 1975, he completed his doctorate degree. He is attorney-at-law in Binningen since 1978. From 1991, he is a member of the board of the cantonal bank of Basel-Land (Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank).
He was a member of the cantonal parliament of Basel-Landschaft (1981–1987 and 1994–1999, president 1998/1999), of the city parliament of Binningen (1988–1995), and of the executive of Bubendorf (1976–1979).
Born in Basel of Polish father and a Swiss mother, he acquired Swiss citizenship only in 1956 (he has also been a Polish citizen since birth).[1] Today, he is a citizen of Basel and Binningen.
He was the first openly homosexual President of the Swiss National Council and lives in a registered partnership.[2]
References
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Official website
- Janiak Freivogel und Partner – attorneys-at-law
- Biography of Claude Janiak on the website of the Swiss Parliament. (German)