Margit Hudelmaier

Margit Hudelmaier (* 1960 in Allmendingen ) is a German social worker . From 1992 to 2014 she was chairwoman of the Federal Association of Thalidomide Victims .

Career

After completing her studies, Hudelmaier worked as a social pedagogue at the district office of the Alb-Donau district . As a result of taking the sedative Contergan during her mother's pregnancy, she was born with physical malformations. As a teenager she began to advocate for the interests of the thalidomide victims, first from 1978 as a youth adviser in the federal association, since 1981 in the state association of Baden-Württemberg and since 1992 as the first chairwoman of the federal association of thalidomide victims.

Because of the film "Just a single tablet" and its publicity, the federal association, together with other organizations affected by the disease and many committed individuals, doubled the pensions from the Contergan Foundation in 2008. The preclusive period, which made an official (unofficial double-digit number) recognition of thalidomide victims impossible after December 31, 1983, was removed from the Contergan Foundation Act in 2009.

In December 2007, representatives of the federal association and the chairwoman of the Contergan Foundation, Regina Schmidt-Zadel (SPD), met with the pharmaceutical company Grünenthal for the first time to negotiate further compensation. The talks resulted in an increase in the capital stock of the Contergan Foundation by 50 million euros.

Honors

• July 30, 2010: Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany for their voluntary commitment to the interests of thalidomide victims