Eveline Klett (born 9 October 1949) is a German former politician who was a member of the State Council of East Germany, the country's

collective head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

, from 1986 until 1989.

Life

Klett was born in Vielau, near

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...

, in 1949. She completed an apprenticeship as a turner. Later, in 1970–71, she went to an SED party academy (). She had joined the

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant ...

in 1964, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1969, and the Democratic Women's League of Germany in 1976. Also in 1976, Klett became a member of the , which she remained until the

1990 East German general election General elections were held in East Germany on 18 March 1990. They were the only free and fair parliamentary elections in the history of the country, and the first free and fair election held in that part of Germany since November 1932. The All ...

. Klett was considered one of the token women in the East German leadership. She lived and worked in Zwickau, and would travel to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

at least once per month to attend political meetings. She retired from politics after the

Peaceful Revolution The Peaceful Revolution (german: Friedliche Revolution), as a part of the Revolutions of 1989, was the process of sociopolitical change that led to the opening of East Germany's borders with the West, the end of the ruling of the Socialist Unity ...

and

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

References

1949 births Living people Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Free German Youth members Democratic Women's League of Germany members Members of the Volkskammer Female members of the Volkskammer Members of the State Council of East Germany {{germany-SED-politician-stub