Helmut Schmidt

Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician. He was Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1974 to 1982.

Helmut Schmidt
Bundeskanzler Helmut Schmidt.jpg
Chancellor of Germany
(West Germany)
In office
16 May 1974 – 1 October 1982
PresidentGustav Heinemann
Walter Scheel
Karl Carstens
Vice ChancellorHans-Dietrich Genscher
Egon Franke
Preceded byWilly Brandt
Succeeded byHelmut Kohl
Federal Minister of Finance
(West Germany)
In office
7 July 1972 – 16 May 1974
ChancellorWilly Brandt
Preceded byKarl Schiller
Succeeded byHans Apel
Federal Minister for Economics
(West Germany)
In office
7 July 1972 – 15 December 1972
ChancellorWilly Brandt
Preceded byKarl Schiller
Succeeded byHans Friderichs
Federal Minister of Defence
(West Germany)
In office
22 October 1969 – 7 July 1972
ChancellorWilly Brandt
Preceded byGerhard Schröder
Succeeded byGeorg Leber
Leader of the SPD Group in the Bundestag
(West Germany)
In office
14 March 1967 – 22 October 1969
DeputyEgon Franke
Martin Hirsch
Ernst Schellenberg
Preceded byFritz Erler
Succeeded byHerbert Wehner
Member of the Bundestag
for Hamburg-Bergedorf
In office
20 October 1969 – 18 February 1987
Preceded byNikolaus Jürgensen
Succeeded byRolf Niese
Member of the Bundestag
for Hamburg
In office
19 October 1965 – 19 October 1969
ConstituencyParty list
In office
6 October 1953 – 6 October 1957
ConstituencyParty list
Member of the Bundestag
for Hamburg-Nord II
In office
15 October 1957 – 17 October 1965
Preceded byWilly Max Rademacher
Succeeded byRolf Meinecke
Senator of the Interior of Hamburg
In office
13 December 1961 – 14 December 1965
First MayorPaul Nevermann
Herbert Weichmann
Preceded byWilhelm Kröger
Succeeded byHeinz Ruhau
Personal details
Born
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt

(1918-12-23)23 December 1918
Hamburg, Weimar Republic
Died10 November 2015(2015-11-10) (aged 96)
Hamburg, Germany
Resting placeOhlsdorf Cemetery
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Spouse(s)
Loki Glaser
(m. 1942; died 2010)
Domestic partnerRuth Loah (2012–2015)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Hamburg
Signature
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branchFlag of the Nazi Germany Air Force Nazi Germany Air Force
Years of service1937–1945
RankOberleutnant (d.R.)
Unit1st Panzer Division
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsIron Cross 2nd Class

Helmut Schmidt was born in Hamburg in 1918. He finished school in 1937 with the Abitur. Afterwards he had to join the working service and later the army. At the end of World War II, he was a First Lieutenant. He became a prisoner of war in 1945.

After he was set free, he started to study macro economy. He finished his studies in 1949. Then he started to work for the administration of Hamburg.

Schmidt joined into the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1949. In 1953, he became a member of the Bundestag first time. From 1961 to 1965, he was Senator in the state government of Hamburg.

From 1969 to 1972, he was Minister of Defence of West Germany. From 1972 to 1974 he was Minister of Finance.

After Willy Brandt gave up his job as Bundeskanzler, Helmut Schmidt was elected as new chancellor.

In July 2013, it was discovered that Schmidt bought 38,000 cigarettes due to a fear of them being banned in Europe.[1]

Schmidt died in Hamburg on 10 November 2015 from complications of surgery he had to cure a blood clot in his left leg.[2] He was 96 years old.[3]

Helmut Schmidt Media

References

  1. "Former German leader Helmut Schmidt buys 38,000 menthol cigarettes to avoid EU ban". The Commentator.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  2. "German ex-Chancellor Schmidt dies at 96". BBC. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  3. "Altkanzler Helmut Schmidt ist tot" (in German). Tagesschau. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

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