The Foundation
The Reinhardt von Graffenried Foundation promotes reporting and press photography both in print and electronic media in Switzerland. It was founded in 2009, does not pursue any commercial interests and is independent from any publishers.
Founders
Erwin Reinhardt
Erwin Reinhardt read law at the University of Berne where he passed the state bar. After his studies, he joined Epicea Holding AG and its subsidiaries as legal counsel and company secretary. From 1971, he served as member and/or delegate of the board of directors of various companies. Among other things, he was a delegate of the boards of Sihl + Eika Papier AG, Papierfabrik Netstal AG, Montalto Holding AG and Papeteries de Serrières SA. From 1982 onwards, Reinhardt was appointed president of the boards of Epim Netstal AG and Sihl + Eika Papier AG. In addition to his various board seats in the paper industry (member of the board/President of Biber Holding, member of the board of Papierfabrik Utzenstorf), he acted as chairman of the board at Spar + Leihkasse in Berne, Jungfraubahn Holding AG and ROI Management Consulting AG. In 2009, together with his wife Franziska Reinhardt-Scherz and Charles von Graffenried, he founded the REINHARDT VON GRAFFENRIED FOUNDATION.
Charles von Graffenried
Charles von Graffenried was a lawyer, banker and publisher. He was born in 1925 in Berne and died on 10 July 2012 in the town of his birth. Graffenried read law at the University of Berne and became a lawyer and notary. At his father’s notary office, he built up the asset management services, the portfolio management, real estate and trust services into the current Bernese Von Graffenried Group (GR). It is presently made up of four subsidiaries: the Private Bank Von Graffenried AG, Von Graffenried AG Property Management, Von Graffenried AG Trust company and Von Graffenried AG Legal.
Charles von Graffenried was president of the Bernese media company Espace Media Groupe AG (publisher of the newspaper Berner Zeitung BZ and the magazine BUND), which was sold to the Tamedia media group in 2007.
The Board of Trustees
Guido Albisetti
Guido Albisetti is Chief of the Family Office at Von Graffenried Group, Berne. After qualifying as a lawyer and notary, he began his legal career in a law firm in Berne. Since 1983 Albisetti has been active in the Von Graffenried Group, first as a lawyer and notary. After the death of Charles von Graffenried, he was given the position of chairman of the administrative board of GR Holding. A postition he did hold until 2016. Still as a member of the administrative board Albisetti also works in various capacities on the administrative and executive boards of small and medium-sized companies as well as on the board of trustees of nonprofit organisations.
Nicole von Graffenried
After acquiring her qualifications as a lawyer in 2003, Nicole von Graffenried was active in a law firm in Berne. Since 2006, she has been a lawyer and notary (notary qualification 2007) at the Von Graffenried Group, where she also advises foundations, families as well as companies at Von Graffenried AG Legal. Since 2012, she has been a member of the board of directors at Von Graffenried Holding AG, as Deputy Chairperson of the Executive Board.
Michael Hug
Michael Hug (*1964) has been working as a freelance journalist and author from his office in Solothurn since 2015. From 2006 to 2013 he was editor in chief at the Berner Zeitung BZ having previously run the editorial department of the Solothurner Tagblatt. Before that he spent several years as part of the national news teams of the Berner Zeitung as well as the news magazine Facts. He got his professional start in local and community journalism in the regions of Solothurn and Emmenthal. He is married with three adult children and lives in Solothurn.
The Board of Directors
Michael von Graffenried, CEO
Born in Bern in 1957, Michael von Graffenried, the founder and manager of the Swiss Press Award, began his career as an international photojournalist in 1978, and today concentrates on long-term projects in multiple media including billboards and film. His documentary film War without Images, produced with Mohammed Soudani, first screened at the Locarno Film Festival in 2002. Graffenried has exhibited widely, his photographs are publishes in many books and held in many permanent collections. His awards include a World Press Photo Award (1989), Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in the French Legion d’Honneur (2006) and the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize from the German Society of Photography (2010)—the third Swiss to obtain the award after René Burri and Robert Frank. http://www.mvgphoto.com