- Heide Simonis
Heide Simonis (IPA2|ˈhaɪdə ziˈmoːnɪs; born
July 4 1943 inBonn as Heide Steinhardt) is a German politician. She is a member of the SPD.She was Minister President of
Schleswig-Holstein from1993 to2005 , the first and till today the only woman to hold this position in any German state in Germany's history.Life
Simonis earned her high school degree (
Abitur ) in 1962 inNürnberg . Thereafter, she studied economics and sociology at the Universities ofErlangen-Nürnberg andKiel , that she finished with a degree in economics in 1967. She worked in different positions after 1967.Simonis has been married to university professor Udo Simonis.
Political career
Simonis joined the SPD in 1969. She was elected to the German
Bundestag in 1976. In 1992, she became member of the legislature of Schleswig-Holstein. On May 19, 1993, she was elected Minister President of said state, after her predecessorBjörn Engholm resigned from that position due to a scandal.On
March 17 2005 Simonis failed to be re-elected as Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein in 4 consecutive ballots by theLandtag (parliament) of Schleswig-Holstein. In the 1stballot she received 34 votes andPeter Harry Carstensen (CDU) received 33 while 2 deputies cast empty votes. Neither Simonis nor Carstensen got theabsolute majority (35 votes). In the 2nd and 3rd ballot the candidates received 34 votes each. Obviously one deputy of the alliance of SPD, Grüne (Greens) and SSW abstained. An unprecedented 4th ballot brought the same result. Simonis has since stepped down as Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein.From 2005 until February 2008 Simonis served as Chief of the German
UNICEF . She resigned from this position due to a scandal related to donations to the organisation that arose during her term. [Article in the online issue of "Der Stern" (in German): [http://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/:Unicef-Vorsitz-Heide-Simonis/609713.html?nv=rss] ]External links
* [http://www.heide-simonis.de/ Homepage from Heide Simonis]
References
Persondata
NAME= Simonis, Heide
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Steinhardt, Heide
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German politician
DATE OF BIRTH=July 4 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH=Bonn
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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