Thomas Onken

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Thomas Onken (1989)

Thomas Onken (born May 6, 1941 in Kreuzlingen , Canton Thurgau ; † March 14, 2000 in Münsterlingen ; legal resident in Kallern ) was a Swiss art historian and politician ( SP ).

life and work

Onken was the son of Kurt (1914-2007) and Elfi, née Presser, and grew up with his two brothers until 1951 in Kreuzlingen. The family then lived in Santiago de Chile until 1956 .

Onken studied art history, German and archeology at the University of Zurich from 1961 and received his doctorate in 1969.

As a politician, Onken was president of the SP in the Kreuzlingen district from 1977 to 1984, president of the SP Thurgau from 1984 to 1990 and a member of the national party executive from 1988 to 1999. He served as Thurgau Cantonal Council from 1972 to 1987. Onken was the first Social Democratic Council of States from Thurgau and was active as such until 1999. From 1991 until his resignation in 1999 he was Vice President of the SPS parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly .

As a politician, Onken was involved in social, educational and cultural policy. He was a member of the cantonal culture commission of the canton of Thurgau and co-owner of the gallery "Kunstraum Kreuzlingen", as well as long-time director of the "Theater an der Grenz" in Kreuzlingen. He was also a founding member and board member of the Swiss Greina Foundation.

Onken married in 1964 and 1991. He is the uncle of Maya Onken .

Thomas Onken died of a stroke in the hospital in Münsterlingen and found his final resting place in the family grave in the Bernrain cemetery .

Onken teaching institute

His father Kurt Onken had founded his own «Onken Training Institute» in Kreuzlingen, the oldest correspondence school in Switzerland, at the age of 23 . In 1979, he handed over management of the company to his two sons, Thomas and Martin. Thomas Onken was the administrative director of the teaching institute until his death. From 1972 to 1992 Thomas Onken presented the Swiss Association for Distance Learning.

His brother continued to run the institute, which he owned in 2005 and liquidated in 2010.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thurgauer Jahrbuch: Nekrolog für Thomas Onken. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
  2. ^ Gerhard exactly: Kurt Onken, family history, curriculum vitae. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Onken, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss art historian and politician (SP)
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Kreuzlingen , Canton of Thurgau
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 2000
Place of death Munsterlingen