Richard Gyptner (3 April 1901 – 2 December 1972) was a German communist politician, activist and later a diplomat in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Biography

After graduating from a public school in Hamburg, he gained an apprenticeship in an electrical shop and then joined the ''Verband Deutscher Handlungsgehilfen'' ('Association of German Clerks'). In 1919, Gyptner was one of the founding members of the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

(KPD) in Hamburg. In 1920 he became the first Chairman of the Communist Youth Association of Germany (KJVD). From 1922 to 1928 he was a member of the Executive Committee of the

Young Communist International The Young Communist International was the parallel international youth organization affiliated with the Communist International (Comintern). History International socialist youth organization before World War I After failed efforts to form an i ...

. In 1929 he became

Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; bg, Гео̀рги Димитро̀в Миха̀йлов), also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (russian: Гео́ргий Миха́йлович Дими́тров; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian ...

's secretary in the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

. In 1933 Gyptner went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and worked in the office of the

International Red Aid International Red Aid (also commonly known by its Russian acronym MOPR ( ru , МОПР, for: ''Междунаро́дная организа́ция по́мощи борца́м револю́ции'' - Mezhdunarodnaya organizatsiya pomoshchi bor ...

Willi Münzenberg Wilhelm "Willi" Münzenberg (14 August 1889, Erfurt, Germany – June 1940, Saint-Marcellin, France) was a German Communist political activist and publisher. Münzenberg was the first head of the Young Communist International in 1919–20 and est ...

as representatives of the Comintern. In 1935 Gyptner went to the USSR, where he worked as an editor for the broadcaster ''Freies Deutschland'' in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Gyptner returned to Germany on 30 April 1945 as a member of the

Ulbricht Group The Ulbricht Group was a group of exiled members of the Communist Party of Germany (''Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands'', or KPD), led by Walter Ulbricht, who flew from the Soviet Union back to Germany on April 30, 1945. Composed of functionarie ...

, and in June 1945 he became secretary of the KPD Central Committee. After 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) was founded in April 1946, Gyptner became one of the two secretaries of the SED party executive. Between March 1949 and May 1950 he was Vice President of the Berlin People's Police and held a leading position in the Political Information Department. Gyptner went on to work with the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

in February 1953, where he headed various main departments and later became an ambassador. He proposed the establishment of a ''center for development and reconnaissance'', with as chairman and as deputy, and appointed a five-person management committee. Gyptner headed the ''Kapitalistisches Ausland'' ('Capitalist Foreign') department in the Foreign Ministry. Gyptner had been a member and later Honorary President of the since 1954. From November 1955 to 1958 he was ambassador to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, from 1958 to 1961 plenipotentiary of the East German government for the Arab states in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

and from March 1961 to April 1963 ambassador to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. In 1964 he retired on a state pension in East Berlin. He died in 1972, and is buried at

Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde The Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery (german: Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde) is a cemetery in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It was the cemetery used for many of Berlin's Socialists, Communists, and anti-fascist fighters. History W ...

in Berlin.

Honors

* 1955 –

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

(Silver, 2nd class) * 1957 – * 1960 –

Banner of Labor The Banner of Labor () was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was given for "excellent and long-standing service in strengthening and consolidating the GDR, especially for achieving outstanding results for the national e ...

* 1961 –

(Gold, 1st class) * 1965 –

Order of Karl Marx The Order of Karl Marx () was the most important order in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The award of the order also included a prize of 20,000 East German marks. The order was founded on May 5, 1953 on the occasion of Karl Marx's 135t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyptner, Richard 1901 births 1972 deaths East German politicians Communist Party of Germany politicians Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians German emigrants to the Soviet Union Executive Committee of the Communist International German Comintern people Independent Social Democratic Party politicians Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver Communists in the German Resistance