Katja Gentinetta Swiss political philosopher

For more than 10 years, Katja Gentinetta pursued a career as an independent political philosopher. She is a lecturer at the universities of Lucerne and Zurich, member of the International Committee of the Red Cross and a board director of two private companies. Since 2022, she is the president of the Stapferhaus museum in Lenzburg.

Katja Gentinetta studied German literature, history and philosophy in Zurich and at the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) Paris. She holds a PhD in political philosophy from the University of Zurich for her thesis on tolerance and its limits in multicultural societies. She completed her studies at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the Sciences Po in Paris and the INSEAD in Fontainebleau.

Before becoming independent, she was deputy director of the leading economic think tank Avenir Suisse. For several years, she hosted two current affairs programmes on Swiss public television. She worked for the Canton of Aargau as head of strategy and external affairs and as project manager for the Swiss national exhibition Expo.02. She started her career as director of the Forum Schlossplatz museum in Aarau.

Katja Gentinetta has written several books on social and political issues, among them Do businesses have a home? (2016 at NZZ libro). Her latest, “A Swiss Foreign Policy for the 21st Century”, which she co-edited, will appear in English after being published in German and French in 2021. Katja Gentinetta is a well-known keynote speaker and regularly writes columns and opinions in Switzerland and abroad.

Katja Gentinetta was born and raised in the Valais. She lives with her husband in Lenzburg and Paris.