Frank Schumann (publisher)

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Frank Schumann (born October 24, 1951 in Torgau ) is a German publisher and publicist . In the GDR and for German reunification , he was particularly active in the Junge Welt , where he was promoted to management from 1989. He was also politically active and an unofficial employee of the GDR State Security . After leaving the editorial team in 1992, Schumann founded several publishing houses and worked for the PDS , as well as publishing numerous books. The writings on correspondence with Margot Honecker were among the most famous works by Schumann

Life

Education and family

Schumann was the first child of the basket maker and later pastor Werner Schumann and his wife Ilse Breitenbach. The ancestors on the mother's side were stud keepers in Trakehnen / East Prussia, those on the father's side were basket makers in Central Germany. This was followed by attending primary school from 1958 to 1966 and the extended secondary school.

From 1966 to 1970 he did his Abitur with vocational training as a specialist glass worker in the VEB Flachglaskombinat Torgau. Schumann had his first publications in the company newspaper Klare Sicht and in the Leipziger Volkszeitung . During this time he joined the FDJ and in 1966 the union .

After graduating from high school in 1970 he continued to work briefly in the flat glass combine, after which he committed himself to serve in the People's Navy for three years . He was the helmsman on the mine search and clearing ship "Wittstock" .

career path

In 1973 he joined the SED and in 1973/74 began a traineeship in the FDJ newspaper Junge Welt . From 1974 to 1978 he studied at the journalism section of the Leipzig Karl Marx University . After graduating with a diploma, he was the history editor of Junge Welt . From 1981 he was deputy, and from 1984 head of the science department and member of the board. In 1988 Schumann became head of culture. In autumn 1989, after the old editor-in-chief had resigned, he was elected to the new management of the newspaper.

During his studies he was the author of the Weltbühne . In addition to daily journalism, Schumann worked as a journalist and wrote TV scripts, comics and books. For this purpose, since 1980 he has undertaken research, educational and reconnaissance trips to the Soviet Union and the USA , to Eastern and Western Europe, China , Japan , the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin . He worked as a presenter for GDR youth television in 1989/90. Schumann was listed as IM "Karl" at the Ministry of State Security and was used as a courier by the foreign intelligence service.

In 1991 he left the daily newspaper Junge Welt and began independent activities, including as editor of the weekly newspaper Berliner Linke , which was discontinued in 1996. In December 1991, he cofounded the edition east as a publisher and agency, in summer 1994, there was the publication of Moab notes of Erich Honecker . In 2002, Schumann's edition ost formed the Eulenspiegel publishing group with the publishers Das Neue Berlin , Eulenspiegel-Verlag and Verlag Neues Leben . In addition to edition ost, he also manages the spotless publishing house , the military publishing house and the publisher am park under this umbrella . In September 2011, Schumann was the first German publicist to speak to Margot Honecker , who lives in exile in Chile, for several days; the quintessence of the intensive 40-hour dialogue was published as a book in spring 2012. During this visit she gave him 400 pages of Erich Honecker's diary, which he had written during his 169 days in prison in Berlin-Moabit prison in 1992/93. “Last records. For Margot “held its own in the Spiegel bestseller list among the top ten titles for several weeks.

From 1992 to 1999 Frank Schumann worked in the central election office of the PDS . Between 1992 and 1994 he wrote in particular for Gregor Gysi , later for Lothar Bisky and also for Gabi Zimmer .

After Margot Honecker's death in 2016, he published a book with email correspondence in which he also wanted to show Margot Honecker's private side. In his foreword he writes: "Margot Honecker was no more a pillar saint than a demon, neither a fury nor a tyrant." He also presented the political similarities.

Frank Schumann has been married to Helga Schumann since 1974. You have three sons.

Fonts

Published authors (selection)

Content participation (selection)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Wilhelm Fricke : Historical revisionism from an MfS perspective ( Memento from June 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 132 kB)
  2. ^ Friend of the functionaries: Verlag "Edition Ost" is the suggestion box of the GDR elite. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. 11./12. February 2017.
  3. ↑ Margot Honecker wrote mails to distant Germany. on: thueringer-allgemeine.de , June 18, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Schumann, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Torgau