Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F065187-0022, Bonn, Pressekonferenz der Grünen, Bundestagswahl

Petra Karin Kelly (29 November 1947 – 1 October 1992) was a German

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

politician and

ecofeminist Ecofeminism is a branch of feminism and political ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyse the relationships between humans and the natural world. The term was coined by the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in h ...

activist. She was a founding member of the

German Green Party Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (fo ...

, the first Green party to rise to prominence both nationally in Germany and worldwide. In 1982, she was awarded the

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob v ...

for "forging and implementing a new vision uniting ecological concerns with disarmament, social justice and human rights."

Early life and education

Petra Karin Lehmann was born in

Günzburg Günzburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Genzburg'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is a ''Große Kreisstadt'' and the capital of the Swabian Günzburg (district), district Günzburg. This district was constituted in 1972 by combining the city ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

(then the American Zone of Occupation, Germany), in 1947. She changed her name to Kelly after her mother married John E. Kelly, a

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

officer. She was educated in a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

in Günzburg and later attended school in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

after her family relocated to the United States in 1959. She lived and studied in the United States until her return to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1970. She retained her West German citizenship throughout her life. Kelly admired

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, and campaigned for

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

and

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

in the 1968 U.S. elections. She studied political science at the School of International Service at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

(

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

), from which she graduated in 1970 with a bachelor's degree. She also graduated from the European Institute at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

in 1971 with a master's degree.

Career

While working at the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

(

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium, 1971–83), Kelly participated in numerous peace and environmental campaigns in Germany and other countries. After working for two years at the

, she moved to an administrative post at the

Economic and Social Committee The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU) established in 1958. It is an advisory assembly composed of "social partners", namely: employers ( employers' organisations), employees (trade ...

, where she championed

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

German Green Party

Kelly was one of the founders of ''Die Grünen'', the

in 1979. In 1983 she was elected to the

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 Commons ...

via the

Electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

as a Member of the

representing

. She was subsequently re-elected in 1987 with a higher share of the vote. In 1981, Kelly was involved in a protest of 400,000 people in Bonn against nuclear weapons. In 1982,

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...

wrote a contribution in ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

'' for the book ''Prinzip Leben'', edited by Kelly and

Jo Leinen Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy * ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series *"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us'' *"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from ''Lambs Anger'' * Jo a fictio ...

, which discussed ecological problems and a possible nuclear war. In the same year, Kelly received the

"...for forging and implementing a new vision uniting ecological concerns with

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as n ...

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

, and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

." On 12 May 1983, Kelly,

Gert Bastian Gert Bastian (26 March 1923 – presumably 1 October 1992) was a German military officer and politician with the German Green Party. Biography Born in Munich, Bastian volunteered for the Wehrmacht in 1941, at the age of nineteen. In World War I ...

and three other Green Bundestag members unfurled a banner on

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

in East Berlin, which said "''The Greens –

Swords to Ploughshares Swords to ploughshares (or plowshares) is a concept in which military weapons or technologies are converted for peaceful civilian applications. The phrase originates from the Book of Isaiah chapter 2: The ''ploughshare'' ( ''’êṯ'', als ...

".'' After being briefly arrested, they met with East German opposition parties. The East German authorities tolerated this since the West German Greens repudiated the

NATO Double-Track Decision The NATO Double-Track Decision was the decision by NATO from December 12, 1979 to offer the Warsaw Pact a mutual limitation of medium-range ballistic missiles and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It was combined with a threat by NATO to d ...

. In October 1983,

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts ...

, the leader of the German Democratic Republic, met Petra Kelly, Gert Bastian and other Greens. Kelly wore a pullover with the words "Swords to Ploughshares" on it. She demanded the release of all prisoners of the East German peace movement and asked Honecker why he repressed something in the GDR which he supported in the West. Kelly wrote the book ''Fighting for Hope'' in 1984, published by

South End Press South End Press was a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, Juliet Schor, among others, in Boston's South End. It published books written by political activi ...

. The book is an urgent call for a world free from violence between North and South, men and women, ourselves and our environment. In the final years of her life, Kelly became increasingly estranged from most of her party colleagues owing to the pragmatic turn taken by the Greens at the time, while she continued to oppose any alliance with traditional political parties.

Death

On 19 October 1992, the decomposed bodies of Kelly and her partner, ex-general and Green politician

(born 1923), were discovered in the bedroom of her house 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-Ruhr r ...

by police officials after they received a call from both Bastian's wife and Kelly's grandmother who reported that they had not heard from either Bastian or Kelly for a few weeks. The police determined that Kelly was shot dead while sleeping by Bastian, who then killed himself. She was 44, he was 69. The last time anyone heard from the couple was on 30 September 1992 when Kelly sent a parcel to her grandmother. Police estimated the deaths had most likely occurred on 1 October but the exact time of death could not be pinpointed owing to the delay in finding the bodies and their resultant state of decomposition. Kelly was buried in the Waldfriedhof (forest cemetery) in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

, near the village of Heidingsfeld in

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally r ...

, Bavaria.

Honors

* 1982:

*In 2006 Kelly was placed 45th in the UK

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

's all-time list of scientists, campaigners, writers, economists and naturalists who, in its view, have done the most to save the planet. Kelly was positioned between the tropical ecologist Mike Hands and the national parks visionary John Dower.

Works

*Kelly, Petra K. ''Thinking Green! Essays on Environmentalism, Feminism, and Nonviolence'', Parallax Press, Berkeley, California, 1994 () *Kelly, Petra K. ''Nonviolence Speaks to Power''
online book
almost complete text (also, out of print, published by Matsunaga Institute for Peace, University of Hawaii, 1992, )

Portrayals

*''

Happiness is a Warm Gun "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was co ...

'', 2001 film by

Thomas Imbach Thomas Imbach (born 1962) is an independent filmmaker based in Zürich, Switzerland. With his production company Bachim Films, Imbach produced his own work until 2007. He then founded Okofilm Productions together with director/producer Andrea St ...

*''Petra'', 2020 novel by

Shaena Lambert Shaena Lambert is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. Biography Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, she has lived in Toronto, New York City and the Okanagan. She currently lives in Vancouver, with her husband, political consultant Bob Pe ...

References

External links

*
Happiness is a Warm Gun. Film on Petra Kelly's death
* ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010xzzw BBC Radio 4 – Great Lives, Series 24, Petra Kellybr>mp3-Audio
(30 mins, 13 MB) 1947 births 1992 deaths People from Günzburg Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Bundestag for Bavaria German Peace Society members Pacifist feminists American University School of International Service alumni Nonviolence advocates German activists German women activists Ecofeminists German essayists German feminists German political writers Green thinkers Non-fiction environmental writers German anti–nuclear weapons activists Hampton High School (Virginia) alumni Female members of the Bundestag Tibet freedom activists Political party founders German murder victims People murdered in Germany 20th-century German women politicians 20th-century essayists Members of the Bundestag for Alliance 90/The Greens {{Alliance 90/The Greens