Marion Barry

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Marion Barry (2007)

Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. (born March 6, 1936 in Itta Bena , Leflore County , Mississippi - † November 23, 2014 in Washington, DC ), was an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He was Mayor of Washington, DC from 1979 to 1991 and from 1995 to 1999

Life and career

Barry was born the third of ten children. He grew up in Memphis , Tennessee. After high school , he went to LeMoyne College. As a political activist of the civil rights movement, he was nicknamed Shep after the Soviet politician Dmitri Shepilov . He later officially registered Shepilov as his middle name. In 1960, Barry earned a Master of Science degree in organic chemistry from Fisk University and then began a doctorate at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville , which he did not complete. In 1965 Barry moved to Washington, where he was politically active in organizing peaceful demonstrations and forming the local branch of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) .

Barry began political career in 1972 as a member of the school board. After the establishment of Washington self-government in 1974, he became a special member of Washington's first city council. During this time he became chairman of the finance and tax committee.

On March 9, 1977, he was shot by radical Hanafis in a raid on the District Building and held hostage for two days. The situation was eventually defused by the FBI and a Muslim mediator.

His biography as an activist, member of the city council and hero of a hostage drama helped him to win the election for mayor by an overwhelming majority. Barry was the second mayor of Washington from 1979 to 1991.

In January 1990 the FBI filmed him smoking crack in a hotel , after which he was sentenced to six months in prison. This meant that he did not take part in the mayoral elections and so Sharon Pratt Kelly became the new mayor. In 1992 he was elected city council and in November 1994 he was elected mayor again. Later, Barry was a member of the City Council ( Council of the District of Columbia ) and represented there the district 8, the Anacostia , the Congress Heights and Washington Highlands covers.

In 2005, a tax evasion investigation was opened against him. During the mandatory drug test prior to the testimony, he was found to have used cocaine and marijuana and sentenced to three years probation.

Barry hit the headlines again when he was arrested by police on September 10, 2006 for various road traffic offenses. He was accused of driving under the influence of alcohol , driving an unregistered vehicle and misusing license plates. He was acquitted of alcohol driving charges on June 13, 2007. In 2012, Barry hit the headlines when he collectively racially insulted Asian or Asian business people. When he officially made his apology, he insulted Poles or people of Polish origin by using the swear word Pollacken .

He died in a Washington hospital on November 23, 2014.

Web links

Commons : Marion Barry  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Marion Barry  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ God by your side. In: Der Spiegel , edition 22/1996.
  2. ↑ Barry Arrested on Cocaine Charges in Undercover FBI, Police Operation. In: The Washington Post, January 19, 1990.
  3. ^ Marion Barry commits new gaffe while apologizing to Asians. In: The Washington Post, May 24, 2012 (accessed November 23, 2014).
  4. ↑ David Stout: Marion Barry, Former Mayor of Washington, Dies at 78. In: The New York Times, November 23, 2014 (accessed November 23, 2014).
personal data
SURNAME Barry, Marion
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barry, Marion Shepilov Jr. (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 6, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Itta Bena , Mississippi
DATE OF DEATH 23rd November 2014
Place of death Washington, DC