Cornelio Sommaruga (born December 29, 1932 in Rome) is a Swiss humanitarian, lawyer and diplomat who is best known for being President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1987 to 1999. Today, he chairs the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in Geneva. He is also active on a number of boards, such as the International Union Against Cancer. Currently he is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Foundation For the Future, an organization dedicated to promoting human rights in the Middle East and North Africa, and the honorary President of Initiatives of Change International, a global organization dedicated to "building trust across the world's divides" of culture, nationality, belief, and background. Background Early years and education Cornelio Sommaruga was born in Rome, Italy, where his father had a professional activity as a commercial lawyer and was stationed during WWII at the Swiss embassy responsible for foreign interests. In fact, he spoke Italian long before he learned German. He was brought up by Catholic parents and remained a devout Christian throughout his life. He was profoundly influenced by his early years in Rome. The period in which his father represented Liberia at the Vatican probably inspired him the most in terms of his long diplomatic and humanitarian career. Despite his connection to Rome, he has close ties with Ticino, his family's canton of origin. He went to grammar and high school in Italy and attended university in Zurich, Switzerland, where he obtained a doctorate in law in 1957. It was only during this period that he learned German, one of the four national languages of Switzerland. He later attended the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva from which he received a diploma in 1961. Professional career Cornelio Sommaruga entered the Swiss diplomatic corps after working two years in the banking sector from 1957 to 1959. He served as a diplomat in The Hague, Rome, Geneva and Bern. From 1968 to 1973, he was the deputy of the Swiss delegation to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the senior representative to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), where he further developed his diplomatic and negotiating skills. From 1973 to 1975, he served as the deputy to the Secretary General of EFTA in Geneva. From there,