Heide Simonis (; born 4 July 1943 in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
as Heide Steinhardt) is a German Author and Politician. She is a member of the
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been t ...
. From 1993 to 2005 she served as the
Minister-President
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...
of
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
. She was the first woman to serve as
head of a state government in German history and the only woman to do so in the 20th century.
Personal Life and Education
Simonis earned her high school degree (
Abitur) in 1962 in
Nürnberg.
She then studied
Economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
and
Sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
at the Universities of
Erlangen-Nürnberg and
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
, graduating with a degree in economics in 1967.
She worked in different positions after 1967.
Simonis is married to
university professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
Udo Simonis.
Career
![Ratsherrin Heide Simonis (SPD) (Kiel 50](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Ratsherrin_Heide_Simonis_%28SPD%29_%28Kiel_50.796%29.jpg)
Simonis joined the
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been t ...
in 1969.
She was elected to the German
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...
in 1976. In 1992, she became a member of the
legislature of Schleswig-Holstein. On 19 May 1993, she was elected
Minister-President
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...
of said state, after her predecessor
Björn Engholm
Björn Engholm (born 9 November 1939) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was Federal Minister for Education and Science from 1981 to 1982, and in 1982 also Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forests. From 1 ...
resigned from that position due to a scandal.
She was the first woman in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
to rise to this level in politics.
The
state election in 1996 saw the SPD drop down to 39.8% (from 46.2% in 1992), but Simonis was able to form a
coalition with the
Greens. In February 2000, at the height of a
CDU party financing scandal, the
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been t ...
was able to enlarge its share to 43.1%. Despite basing its 2005
election campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
on Simonis' popularity, the
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been t ...
suffered a heavy defeat due to the bad economic situation and dropped down to 38.7% (for the first time in almost twenty years behind the
CDU).
On 17 March 2005 Simonis failed to be re-elected as
Minister-President
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...
of
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
in 4 consecutive ballots by the
Schleswig-Holstein Landtag.
In the 1st
ballot
A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...
she received 34 votes and
Peter Harry Carstensen
Peter Harry Carstensen (born 12 March 1947) is a German politician, in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.
From 2005 to 2012 he was Minister President of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 2005/ ...
(
CDU) received 33 while 2 deputies cast empty votes.
Neither Simonis nor
Carstensen got the
absolute majority
A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...
(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 and Simonis has since stepped down as
Minister-President
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...
of
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
.
UNICEF
From 2005 until February 2008 Simonis served as Chief of the German
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
. She resigned from this position due to a scandal related to donations to the organisation that arose during her term.
See also
*
List of Minister-Presidents of Schleswig-Holstein
The Minister-Presidents of Schleswig-Holstein since 1946 have been:
List
Political party:
See also
*Schleswig-Holstein
* List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein
*Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Ministers-President Of Schle ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonis, Heide
1943 births
Living people
Politicians from Bonn
Members of the Bundestag for Schleswig-Holstein
Members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
People from the Rhine Province
Female members of the Bundestag
Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class
Ministers-President of Schleswig-Holstein
Ministers of the Schleswig-Holstein State Government
20th-century German women politicians
21st-century German women politicians
Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Women Ministers-President in Germany