Heide Simonis

Heide Simonis (German: [ˈhaɪdə ziˈmoːnɪs]; 4 July 1943 – 12 July 2023) was a German author and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She was minister of finance in Schleswig-Holstein from 1988 until 1993, when she became minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein. She was the first woman to serve as head of a state government in German history and the only woman to do so in the 20th century, serving until 2005. As of 2025, she is the longest serving former minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein and also the longest serving former female minister-president of all German states (11 years, 343 days).

Early life and education

Born Heide Steinhardt in Bonn on 4 July 1943, she was the oldest of three sisters. She had asthma as a young child and therefore spent time in children's homes from age three. She completed school with the Abitur in 1962 in Nürnberg. She then studied economics and sociology at the universities of Erlangen-Nürnberg and Kiel, graduating with a degree in economics in 1967. She worked in different positions after 1967, beginning as a lecturer at the University of Lusaka in Zambia. She worked with her husband for an advisory panel of the WHO in Japan on health development. She later worked as vocational counsellor at the employment office of Kiel.

Career

National politics

Simonis joined the SPD in 1969. She was elected to the German Bundestag in 1976, representing the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district, as then the youngest member of the parliament.