- Gottfried Lessing
Gottfried Anton Nicolai Lessing (1914-1979) was a German lawyer, political activist and diplomat. Being a
Jew , he was forced to migrate from Germany in 1938. First he sought refuge in Britain. Later he moved to Salisbury,Southern Rhodesia (nowZimbabwe ). He worked as a lawyer in Salisbury 1941-1946. In Rhodesia he took part in the founding and became a leading member of the smallSouthern Rhodesia Communist Party .Hoff, Henning. "Grossbritannien und die DDR 1955-1973 : Diplomatie auf Umwegen".Munich : Oldenbourg, 2003. p. 65] [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/dlessing.htm Doris Lessing ] ] He was married toDoris Lessing 1944-1949. [http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/artikel/594/137318/ Portrait: Doris Lessing Feministin wider Willen - Kultur - sueddeutsche.de ] ] They had one son together.In 1949 he returned to Britain, where he worked for the
Communist Party of Great Britain . In 1950 he settled down inEast Berlin . In 1951 he became a member of theSocialist Unity Party of Germany .From 1952 to 1957 he was the president of the Chamber of Foreign Trade. Then, in 1959-1960, he led the trade representation of the German Democratic Republic in
Indonesia . In 1961 he was sent toMali . 1962-1965 he was back in the GDR, working as the head of the Africa section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between 1965 and 1969, Lessing served as the Consul General of theGerman Democratic Republic inTanzania . He again returned to Germany, and worked in the Planning Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Lessing went on to serve as the ambassador of the German Democratic Republic to
Uganda . He and his third wife were killed in the riots againstIdi Amin 's rule in 1979. [ [http://oe1.orf.at/highlights/109901.html oe1.ORF.at / Literaturnobelpreis an Doris Lessing ] ] His ex-wife, Doris, has hinted that she thought theKGB could have been responsible for the killing. [ [http://www.stern.de/unterhaltung/buecher/:Doris-Lessing-Doris-Lessing-/599965.html Doris Lessing: 'Ich mag keine Utopien' - Unterhaltung - stern.de ] ]Lessing was the maternal uncle of
Gregor Gysi .References
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