Gregor Gysi
Gregor Gysi, born 16th January 1948, is a German attorney and key politician of the socialist left-wing political party -The Left (Die Linke). He was the last leader of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, and led the effort that transformed it into the Post-Communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), forerunner of The Left. He is well known for his rhetorical talent and is considered one of the best German public speakers.
Political Career[edit]
Gysi's political career started in the then-ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) of East Germany, to which he was admitted in 1967. In December 1989, Egon Krenz, the last Communist leader of East Germany, resigned all of his posts. Gysi was elected as the party's chairman. He set transforming the SED into a democratic socialist party. Before the year was out, the last hardliners in the SED leadership had either resigned or been pushed out. On the 16th of December, the SED was renamed the Socialist Unity Party – Party of Democratic Socialism (SED-PDS), it later became simply, the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). Gysi remained as party chairman, and in March 1990 was elected to the Volkskammer in the first free election of that body, serving there until it was dissolved upon German reunification on 3rd October 1990.
In the first post-reunification all-German elections, he was elected to the Bundestag from Berlin Hellersdorf – Marzahn, and served there until 2000. In 2000 he resigned as chairman of the PDS's parliamentary group, but continued as an active member of the party. Following the victory in Berlin's 2001 municipal elections of a coalition of the PDS and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), he was elected Senator for Economics, Labour, and Women's Issues and Deputy Mayor. In June 2007, the PDS and WASG formally merged to form a united party called The Left.
Education[edit]
In 1971 he became a licensed attorney, and during the 1970s and 1980s defended several prominent dissidents, including Rudolf Bahro, Robert Havemann, Ulrike Poppe, and Bärbel Bohley.
Notable work[edit]
In 1989, he and a group of lawyers presented a counter-draft to the government's Travel Bill, which authorised mass public demonstrations. This led to a rally on the 4th of November in which he spoke and called for various reforms, including free elections. In December 1989, he became a member of a special SED party session investigating official corruption and abuse of power.
External links[edit]
http://www.bundestag.de/bundestag/abgeordnete18/biografien/G/gysi_gregor/258388
