Niko Bessinger

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Nikolaus Onverwag "Niko" Bessinger (born June 12, 1948 in Walvis Bay ; † March 25, 2008 in Windhoek ) was a Namibian architect , politician and Namibia's first minister for the environment and tourism .

Life

Niko Bessinger was born in 1948 as the son of the building contractor Hendrik Bessinger (1929–2012) in the enclave of Walvisbaai, which was then part of the South African Union . He attended the Roman Catholic St. Boniface Elementary School in Windhoek, the Augustineum in Parow , and graduated from Athlone High School in Cape Town in 1966 . In 1969 he began studying architecture at the University of Cape Town ; However, he interrupted his studies and went back to South West Africa in 1972 and joined the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO). In 1976 he became an active member and SWAPO treasurer . In 1978 he continued his studies on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Detroit , and obtained a bachelor's degree (B.Arch.) In the United States by 1981 .

Back in Namiba, he became SWAPO Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1981 and was a member of the Namibian Chamber of Architects (NIA) from 1983. Niko Bessinger became a member of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia in 1989 and, with Namibia's independence in 1990, a member of the National Assembly and Namibia's first Minister for Environment and Tourism. In the parliamentary elections in December 1994 he was re-elected to the National Assembly, but gave up his seat in 1996. Until 2007 he stayed on the Central Committee of SWAPO.

Bessinger was married to Hermine Bessinger (née Bertolini). They had four children. Bessinger died in 2008 in his house in the Windhoek district of Khomasdal from complications from a heart attack . A few days later he was named a national hero .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Klaus Dierks : Biographies of Namibian Personalities . Namibia Library by Dr.-Ing. Klaus Dierks. 2003. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  2. Eberhard Hofmann: Niko Bessinger died . General newspaper . March 26, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  3. NamLex Index to the Laws of Namibia . Legal Assistance Center. 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2017.