Guido Fluri
{{Short description|Swiss entrepreneur and philanthropist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Guido Fluri
| image = Guido Fluri 2024 Europarat Strassburg.jpg
| landscape = yes
| caption = Guido Fluri at a press conference at the Council of Europe in 2024
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1966|07|10}}
| birth_place = Olten, Switzerland
| death_date =
| death_place =
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| occupation = Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
| organization = Guido Fluri Foundation, Justice Initiative
| website = {{URL|guidofluri.ch}}
}}
Guido Fluri (born July 10, 1966) is a Swiss entrepreneur and philanthropist, known for his advocacy against institutional child abuse. Fluri initiated the Swiss children coercion reparation initiative (Wiedergutmachungsinitiative), which resulted in a federal compensation fund. With the Justice Initiative, he campaigns at the European level.{{Cite AV media |people= |last=Bauer |first=Karin |date=20 March 2024 |title=Europas missbrauchte Kinder |url= |trans-title=Europe's abused children |format= |work= |type=Television production |language=DE |location= |publisher=3sat |access-date=}}
Early Life
Fluri was born as the illegitimate child of a 17-year-old mother who developed schizophrenia shortly after his birth.{{cite web |title=Champion of abuse victims considers government deal |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/compensation_champion-of-abuse-victims-considers-government-deal/42108886 |publisher=swissinfo.ch |date=23 April 2016 |access-date=2025-04-02}} He was raised by his grandparents and in children's homes.{{cite web |title=Multimillionär kämpft gegen Kindesmissbrauch |url=https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/fenster-zum-sonntag/video/multimillionaer-kaempft-gegen-kindesmissbrauch?urn=urn:srf:video:9696ae5a-6dba-43f4-bdf1-d5eb9af4efe0 |website=SRF Fenster zum Sonntag |date=9 March 2024 |language=de-CH |access-date=2025-04-01}} He initially started training as a plumber but dropped out and ended up working as a filling station attendant.{{cite web |last=Bruder |first=Balz |title=Guido Fluri: «Ich bin in der Tat unerbittlich» |url=https://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/zentralschweiz/luzern/guido-fluri-ich-bin-in-der-tat-unerbittlich-ld.1068714 |website=Luzerner Zeitung |date=10 November 2018 |language=de |access-date=2025-04-01}}
Entrepreneur and Investor
Fluri bought his first piece of land with savings from his work at the gas station and a bank loan, later built a three-family house, and sold it for a profit.{{cite web |last=Lachat |first=Denise |title=Ein Unternehmer bewegt die Politik |url=https://www.tagblatt.ch/schweiz/ein-unternehmer-bewegt-die-politik-ld.707674 |website=Tagblatt |date=2015-09-21 |language=de |access-date=2025-04-01}} He acquired real estate properties at comparatively low prices following the collapse of the Swiss real estate bubble in 1989. After the turn of the millennium, he was able to purchase properties located centrally at lower-than-average market prices.{{cite web |last=Baur |first=Alex |title=Der gute Mensch von Cham |url=https://weltwoche.ch/story/der-gute-mensch-von-cham/ |website=Die Weltwoche |date=29 August 2012 |language=de-DE |access-date=2025-04-01}}
In 2020, Fluri sold the majority of his real estate holdings to Swiss Life for 360 million Swiss francs.{{cite web |last=Bürgi |first=Marc |title=Deal mit Swiss Life: Guido Fluri macht Betongold zu Geld |url=https://www.handelszeitung.ch/unternehmen/deal-mit-swiss-life-guido-fluri-macht-betongold-zu-geld-304503 |website=Handelszeitung |date=8 July 2020 |language=de-CH |access-date=2025-04-01}} With an estimated net worth of CHF 375 million, he ranked among 300 richest people in Switzerland in 2024.{{cite web |title=Die 300 Reichsten: Guido Fluri |url=https://www.handelszeitung.ch/people/guido-fluri |website=Bilanz |date=November 2024 |language=de-CH |access-date=2025-04-04}}
Guido Fluri Foundation
Image:Gedenkstaette Muemliswil Aussen1.jpg
Image:Wiedergutmachungsinitiative_2014.jpg
In 2010, Fluri established the Guido Fluri Foundation. The foundation, in addition to its work against child abuse, supports people affected by the brain tumor acoustic neuroma and the families of people with schizophrenia.{{cite web |first=Isabelle |last=Eichenberger |title=Victims' champion wins over Swiss establishment |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/victims-champion-wins-over-swiss-establishment/41345034 |publisher=swissinfo.ch |date=26 March 2015 |access-date=2025-04-02}}
Since 2010, Fluri has supported efforts towards the historical investigation of child abuse in Switzerland. He launched a project to reappraise Swiss foster homes. In 2011, he purchased a former foster home in Mümliswil, in which he was housed in the early 1970s, and had it converted into a museum.{{cite book |last1=von Salis |first1=Elisabeth |last2=Strunk |first2=Marion |title=Überleben – über Leben: Wege zur Kreativität |publisher=Lit Verlag |location=Zürich |year=2022 |isbn=978-3-643-80323-8 |pages=145–146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qw2bEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA145}}
In 2013, he initiated the Reparation Initiative, a Swiss federal popular initiative to address the fate of forced child labourers in Switzerland, the so-called Verdingkinder, and other victims of compulsory social measures in Switzerland.{{cite web |last=Puri |first=Kavita |title=Switzerland's shame: The children used as cheap farm labour |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29765623 |website=BBC |date=29 October 2014 |language=en |access-date=2025-04-01}} The initiative led to a law in 2016, creating a CHF 300 million compensation fund.{{cite web |last=Gopalakrishnan |first=Manasi |title=Swiss to compensate child laborers |url=https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-to-compensate-victims-of-centuries-old-child-labor-practice/a-19218456 |website=dw.com |date=27 April 2016 |language=en |access-date=2025-04-01}} For his efforts, Fluri was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Lucerne in 2018.{{cite web |last=Bruder |first=Balz |title=Guido Fluri ist nun ein Dr. theol. h.c. |url=https://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/solothurn/kanton-solothurn/guido-fluri-ist-nun-ein-dr-theol-h-c-ld.1325668 |website=Luzerner Zeitung |date=8 November 2018 |language=de |access-date=2025-04-01}}
Since 2022, he has been funding a professorship at the Pontifical Gregorian University for the prevention of sexual abuse.{{cite web |last=Brändle |first=Nadja |title=Guido Fluri Stiftung: Neuer Lehrstuhl zur Prävention gegen sexuellen Missbrauch |url=https://thephilanthropist.ch/guido-fluri-stiftung-neuer-lehrstuhl-zur-praevention-gegen-sexuellen-missbrauch/ |website=The Philanthropist |date=28 October 2022 |language=de-DE |access-date=2025-04-01}}
Justice Initiative
Since 2022, Fluri has lobbied at the European level through the Justice Initiative. In 2023 they delivered a petition to the European Parliament with 540,000 signatures advocating better child protection online.{{cite web |title=Tagesschau vom 06.12.2023 |url=https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/tagesschau/video/tagesschau-vom-06-12-2023-hauptausgabe?urn=urn:srf:video:ecec816f-2aa9-4c1c-9058-09b50f8c7681&startTime=1040 |website=SRF.ch |date=6 December 2023 |language=de-CH |access-date=2025-04-01}}
In 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg adopted a motion of the Justice Initiative calling for child abuse in Europe to be addressed along the lines of the Swiss Reparation Initiative.{{cite web |title=Council of Europe eyes Swiss model for compensating abuse victims |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/council-of-europe-eyes-swiss-model-for-compensating-abuse-victims/49163494 |website=swissinfo.ch |date=27 January 2024 |language=en |access-date=2025-04-01}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://guidofluri.ch/ Personal website of Guido Fluri] {{in lang|de}}
- [https://www.guido-fluri-stiftung.ch/en/ Guido Fluri Foundation]
- [https://justice-initiative.eu/ Justice Initiative]
Category:Swiss_philanthropists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fluri, Guido}}