Hannelore "Loki" Schmidt (; 3 March 1919 – 21 October 2010) was a German teacher and
environmentalist
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
. She was the wife of
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982.
Before becoming Cha ...
, who was the
Chancellor of Germany
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
from 1974 to 1982.
Life and work
Hannelore Glaser was born in 1919 in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
. She studied four semesters of education. After graduation she worked as a school teacher continuously from 1940 until 1972 (teaching elementary school, Volksschule and Realschule). She married Helmut Schmidt in 1942. He became a politician who rose in 1974 to become Chancellor of West Germany.
In 1976, Loki Schmidt founded the ''Stiftung zum Schutze gefährdeter Pflanzen'' (engl.: foundation for the protection of endangered plants), which later became the ''Stiftung Naturschutz Hamburg und Stiftung zum Schutze gefährdeter Pflanzen'' (engl.: nature conservancy foundation Hamburg for the protection of endangered plants).
In 1980, she established the
Flower of the Year campaign, a public awareness campaign for the protection of endangered wildflowers in Germany. For this work she was awarded the title Professor by the University of Hamburg. She was an honorary doctor of the Russian Academy of Science in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and the
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...
.
The new botanical garden in Hamburg was renamed after her to "
Loki-Schmidt-Garten
The Loki-Schmidt-Garten, also known as Botanischer Garten Hamburg, or, more formally, as Botanischer Garten der Universität Hamburg or Biozentrum Klein Flottbek und Botanischer Garten, is a botanical garden maintained by the University of Hamburg ...
" in 2012.
She was buried in the
Ohlsdorf Cemetery
Ohlsdorf Cemetery (german: Ohlsdorfer Friedhof or (former) ) in the Ohlsdorf quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany, is the biggest rural cemetery in the world and the fourth-largest cemetery in the world. Most of the people buried at the cemete ...
.
Legacy
The
''Puya loki-schmidtiae'', the ''
Pitcairnia
''Pitcairnia'' is a genus of plants in the Family (biology), family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Pitcairnioideae. It was named for William Pitcairn, Scottish physician and gardener (1711–1791). The genus ''Pitcairnia'' ranks as the second most prol ...
'' ''loki-schmidtiae'' and the scorpion ''
Tityus lokiae'' are named in her honour.
Family
Loki and Helmut Schmidt married on 27 June 1942; they had one son (who died as an infant) and a daughter.
Later years
In 2009, she was awarded the
honorary citizen award (Ehrenbürgerschaft)—the highest decoration—of Hamburg.
She died during the night of 20/21 October 2010, aged 91, at her home in
Langenhorn. The marriage with Helmut Schmidt had lasted 68 years.
Publications
*''Schützt die Natur: Impressionen aus unserer Heimat''. Herder Verlag, 1979, .
*H.-U. Reyer, W. Migongo-Buke und L. Schmidt: ''Field Studies and Experiments on Distribution and Foraging of Pied and Malachite Kingfishers at Lake Nakuru (Kenya)''. In: ''Journal of Animal Ecology'', Band 57, 1988, S. 595–610
Zusammenfassung .
*W. Barthlott, S. Porembski, M. Kluge, J. Hopke und L. Schmidt: ''Selenicereus wittii (Cactaceae). An epiphyte adapted to Amazonian Igapó inundation forests''. In: ''Plant Systematics and Evolution'', Band 206, 1997, S. 175–185, .
*''Die Botanischen Gärten in Deutschland''. Verlag Hoffmann und Campe, 1997, .
*''Die Blumen des Jahres''. Verlag Hoffmann und Campe, 2003, .
*P. Parolin, J. Adis, M. F. da Silva, I. L. do Amaral, L. Schmidt und M. T. F. Piedade: ''Floristic composition of a floodplain forest in the Anavilhanas archipelago, Brazilian Amazonia''. In: '' Amazoniana'', Band 17 (3/4), 2003, S. 399–411
Abstract .
*''Loki: Hannelore Schmidt erzählt aus ihrem Leben''. Verlag Hoffmann und Campe, 2003, .
*''Mein Leben für die Schule''. 2005,
*''Erzähl doch mal von früher: Loki Schmidt im Gespräch mit Reinhold Beckmann''. Verlag Hoffman und Campe, 2008, .
References
External links
*
Stiftung Naturschutz Hamburg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Hannelore
1919 births
2010 deaths
German environmentalists
German women environmentalists
Spouses of chancellors of Germany
People from Hamburg
Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery
Helmut Schmidt