Jurij Grós (1 January 1931 – 28 December 2019) was an ethnic Sorbian communist politician who held office before and after German reunification.

Biography

Grós was born in

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...

in 1931 and educated at the Sorbian Teacher Training Institute in

Radibor Radibor (German) or Radwor (Upper Sorbian) is a municipality in Saxony in Germany. It is situated in Upper Lusatia about 10 km north of Bautzen, which is also the main city of the District of Bautzen to which Radibor belongs. Radibor was fir ...

. He joined the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

(SED) in 1949 and worked as a teacher until 1953. He joined the district leadership of the Free German Youth (FDJ) and in 1955 became a member of the Federal Executive Board of

Domowina Domowina (Sorbian language, Sorbian: "Home") is a political independent league of the Sorbs, Sorbian and Wendish people and umbrella organization of Sorbian societies in Lusatia, Lower and Upper Lusatia, Germany. It represents the interests of ...

, the state-sponsored association for the Sorbian minority. In 1964, he was appointed First Secretary of the Federal Executive Board, and assumed leadership of the organization upon the retirement of its long-time Chairman,

Kurt Krjeńc Kurt Krjeńc (7 July 1907 – 28 November 1978) was an East German communist politician who served as Chairman of Domowina from 1951 to 1973. Biography Krjeńc was born in Malschwitz near Bautzen in 1907 to an ethnic Sorbian working-class m ...

in 1973. He was elected to the Central Council of the FDJ in 1959 and remained in office until 1971. In the

1986 East German general election General elections were held in East Germany on 8 June 1986. 500 deputies were elected to the Volkskammer, with all of them being candidates of the single-list National Front. 703 Front candidates were put forward, with 500 being elected and 203 ...

, Grós was elected to the

Volkskammer __NOTOC__ The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany). The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house w ...

. In the wake of the Peaceful Revolution, he resigned his position in

, but was re-elected to the executive board again in 1993. From 1994 to 1998, he chaired the Bautzen District association of the

PDS PD, P.D., or Pd may refer to: Arts and media * ''People's Democracy'' (newspaper), weekly organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) * ''The Plain Dealer'', a Cleveland, Ohio, US newspaper * Post Diaspora, a time frame in the ''Honorverse'' ...

(the successor party of the SED) and represented the PDS (later The Left) in the Bautzen District Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grós, Jurij 1931 births 2019 deaths Sorbian people People from Bautzen Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Members of the 9th Volkskammer Members of the 10th Volkskammer