Gabi Zimmer
Gabi Zimmer | |
---|---|
Leader of the Party of Democratic Socialism | |
In office 14 October 2000 – 29 June 2003 | |
Preceded by | Lothar Bisky |
Succeeded by | Lothar Bisky |
Leader of the Party of Democratic Socialism in Thuringia | |
In office July 1990 – December 1998 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Dieter Hausold |
Leader of the Party of Democratic Socialism in the Landtag of Thuringia | |
In office 1 October 1999 – 1 November 2000 | |
Preceded by | Birgit Klaubert |
Succeeded by | Werner Buse |
Member of the Landtag of Thuringia | |
In office 25 October 1990 – 8 July 2004 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Constituency | PDS List |
Member of the European Parliament for Germany | |
In office 1 July 2004 – 2 July 2019 | |
Constituency | The Left List |
Personal details | |
Born | Gabriele Zimmer 7 May 1955 East Berlin, East Germany |
Political party | The Left |
Other political affiliations | Party of Democratic Socialism (1990–2007) Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1981–1990) |
Gabriele "Gabi" Zimmer (born 7 May 1955) is a German politician who served as leader of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) from 2000 to 2003. After leaving office as leader, she was a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2019. Zimmer sat with the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) group, which she chaired from 2012 to 2019.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Zimmer was born in East Berlin in 1955. After graduating from high school, she studied Russian and French in the Theoretical and Applied Linguistics section of the Karl Marx University in Leipzig from 1973 to 1977, graduating as a qualified linguist. Then she worked as a clerk at VEB vehicle and hunting weapons factory "Ernst Thälmann" in Suhl. From 1981 to 1987 she was the editor of the company's newspaper, and from 1987 to 1989 she was a member of the SED party leadership of this company.
Zimmer is non-denominational, married, and has two children.
Political career
[edit]She joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), the ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), in 1981.[2] After its transformation into the Party of Democratic Socialism in 1990, she became the party's leader in the new state of Thuringia, a position she held until 1998. She was a member of the Landtag of Thuringia from 1990 until 2004.
Zimmer became federal deputy leader of PDS in 1996. She was elected federal leader in 2000 after the resignation of Lothar Bisky. The party suffered a major defeat in the 2002 federal election, failing to pass the 5% electoral threshold and returning only two representatives. Zimmer was re-elected as leader at the first party congress after the election, but after internal party disputes, announced she would step down and not seek re-election at an extraordinary party congress in 2003. She left the leadership in May of that year.
Zimmer remained active in the party, and was elected to the European Parliament in 2004. In 2007, the PDS merged into The Left. Zimmer was re-elected as an MEP representing The Left in 2009 and 2014. In 2012, she became the chairwoman of the GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament. She did not seek re-election in the 2019 European Parliament election.
References
[edit]- ^ "Gabriele ZIMMER". European Parliament. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ "Your MEPs – Gabi Zimmer". EU MEP information. European Union. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
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- Reimer Böge
- Elmar Brok
- Daniel Caspary
- Birgit Collin-Langen
- Jan Christian Ehler
- Karl-Heinz Florenz
- Michael Gahler
- Stefan Gehrold since 20 September 2018
- Jens Gieseke
- Ingeborg Gräßle
- Peter Jahr
- Dieter-Lebrecht Koch
- Werner Kuhn
- Werner Langen
- Peter Liese
- Norbert Lins
- Thomas Mann
- David McAllister
- Markus Pieper
- Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl
- Dennis Radtke since 24 July 2017
- Herbert Reul until 6 July 2017
- Sven Schulze
- Andreas Schwab
- Renate Sommer
- Sabine Verheyen
- Axel Voss
- Rainer Wieland
- Hermann Winkler
- Joachim Zeller
- Udo Bullmann
- Michael Detjen since 1 January 2018
- Ismail Ertug
- Knut Fleckenstein
- Evelyne Gebhardt
- Jens Geier
- Matthias Groote until 31 October 2016
- Iris Hoffmann
- Petra Kammerevert
- Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann
- Arndt Kohn since 24 February 2017
- Dietmar Köster
- Constanze Krehl
- Bernd Lange
- Jo Leinen
- Arne Lietz
- Susanne Melior
- Norbert Neuser
- Maria Noichl
- Gabriele Preuß
- Ulrike Rodust
- Martin Schulz until 10 February 2017
- Joachim Schuster
- Peter Simon
- Birgit Sippel
- Jutta Steinruck until 31 December 2017
- Jakob von Weizsäcker until 6 January 2019
- Martina Werner
- Kerstin Westphal
- Babette Winter since 10 January 2019
- Tiemo Wölken since 14 November 2016
- Jan Philipp Albrecht until 2 July 2018
- Reinhard Bütikofer
- Michael Cramer
- Romeo Franz since 3 July 2018
- Sven Giegold
- Rebecca Harms
- Martin Häusling
- Maria Heubuch
- Ska Keller
- Barbara Lochbihler
- Terry Reintke
- Helga Trüpel
- Cornelia Ernst
- Thomas Händel
- Sabine Lösing
- Fabio De Masi until 23 October 2017
- Martina Michels
- Martin Schirdewan since 8 November 2017
- Helmut Scholz
- Gabi Zimmer
- Hans-Olaf Henkel
- Bernd Kölmel
- Bernd Lucke
- Jörg Meuthen since 8 November 2017
- Marcus Pretzell
- Joachim Starbatty
- Beatrix von Storch until 23 October 2017
- Ulrike Trebesius
- Nadja Hirsch since 8 November 2017
- Wolf Klinz since 8 November 2017
- Alexander Graf Lambsdorff until 23 October 2017
- Gesine Meißner
- Michael Theurer until 23 October 2017