Elke Leonhard

Elke Leonhard (nee Schmid, formerly Leonhard-Schmid; born May 17, 1949 in Werkel , today a district of Fritzlar ) is a German politician ( SPD ) and publicist . She was a member of the German Bundestag from 1990 to 2005 . From 1998 to 2000 Leonhard was chairwoman of the committee for culture and media of the German Bundestag . Leonhard is Honorary President of the German Parliamentary Society for life.

Education

Leonhard studied pedagogy , psychology and law at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and obtained a degree in psychology. According to her own statements, she completed research stays at Yale University, among others . In 1982 she received her doctorate in Frankfurt with a thesis on the topic of raising awareness of early social democracy (1863–1891) as a Dr. phil. Numerous other, usually shorter, research stays followed, including in New York, Madrid, Rome, London, Paris and Oslo.

Professional career

From 1981 to 1986 she worked as a scientific consultant and author (book and director) of television documentaries at WDR in Cologne. At the same time, she completed training as a bioenergetic analyst from 1982 to 1986 . From 1986 she was the editor of the now discontinued book series Europäische Zeitzeugen ( Herder Verlag ).

Political career

In 1968 she joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany and was the youngest city councilor in Fritzlar from 1972 to 1978 .

In the elections in 1990 and 2002, she was on the national list of the SPD in Rhineland-Palatinate in the Bundestag voted; The constituency of Bitburg (formerly Bundestag constituency 152, then 205, today Bundestag constituency 203 ) could never be won directly against the CDU Bundestag member Peter Rauen .

There she was, among other things, foreign trade spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group from 1991 to 1994, spokeswoman for foreign cultural policy of the SPD parliamentary group from 1994 to 1998, deputy global economic spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group from 1996 to 1998 and deputy foreign policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group from 1998 to 1999. From 1998 to 2000 she was chair of the newly established Committee for Culture and the Media, from 2000 to 2002 chief rapporteur for foreign cultural policy and from 2002 to 2005 rapporteur for Section 14 (defense) in the budget committee .

Until July 2006 she was a member of the board and the presidium of the SPD regional association Rhineland-Palatinate.

voluntary work

From 1993 to 1998 she was chairwoman of the German-British parliamentary group, 1995 to 1998 chairwoman of the Interparliamentary Working Group, 1998 to 2003 chairwoman of the Mid-Atlantic Club Bonn, 2000 to 2003 chairwoman of the German-Macedonian Society and from 1999 to 2006 President of the German Parliamentary Society , then its honorary president.

She is a member of the Board of Trustees (Center for British Studies) at the Humboldt University of Berlin and a member of the General Assembly and the Board of Trieres of the University of Trier . Elke Leonhard is also a member of the International Institute on Bioenergetic Analysis, New York.

Private

Elke Leonhard was married to the historian, Soviet Union and GDR expert Wolfgang Leonhard from 1974 until his death in August 2014 and lives in Manderscheid ( Eifel ) and in Washington, DC

Publications

• To raise awareness of early social democracy. Lang, Frankfurt / Bern 1982, ISBN 3-8204-7107-3 .
• The comrades. How they are and how they were. Bund-Verlag, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-7663-3162-0
• Where are Schmidt's heirs? The SPD on the way to power. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-421-06527-6 .
• From the opposition to power. How Rudolf Scharping wants to become chancellor. Bund-Verlag, Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-7663-2623-6 .
• with Wolfgang Leonhard: The left temptation. Where is the SPD headed? Edition q in Be.bra-Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86124-633-6 .

Movies

• The history of the Socialist International. WDR, 1984.
• Treason in German - Treason in Italian. WDR, 1985.

Web links

• Biography at the German Bundestag
• Website by Elke Leonhard
• Literature by and about Elke Leonhard in the catalog of the German National Library