Samuel Bhend (1943 – 2 December 2021) was a Swiss politician.^[1]

Bhend was born in Brienz in 1943 and grew up in Beatenberg. After graduating from secondary school, he became a teacher and subsequently a principal in Urtenen-Schönbühl.^[2] He was married to Lotti Bhend-Reber.^[3][4] Samuel Bhend died on 2 December 2021 at the age of 78.^[5]

Bhend was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (PS) and was part of the ecological faction of the party.^[6] He was a communal councilor in Urtenen-Schönbühl from 1976 to 1982.^[2] He served in the Grand Council of Bern from 1974 to 1986 and again from 1990 to 1997. He was praised as an opposition figure by Le Temps^[7] and Le Nouveau Quotidien.^[6] He served as Vice-President of the inquiry on the issue of Jura separatism in the mid-1980s.^[8] He chaired the PS in the Bernese Oberland from 1985 to 1992.^[9] He ran for a seat in the Federal Assembly three times, without success.^[6]

Bhend was elected to the Executive Council of Bern in 1997, taking over the seat of Hermann Fehr [de], who had resigned due to health complications.^[7] He became head of the Public Health and Welfare Department on 1 May 1997.^[2] He was re-elected in 1998^[10] and 2002.^[11] In 2005, he announced that he would not be running for a fourth term.^[7]