Marie Schlei | |
---|---|
Minister of Economic Cooperation | |
In office 15 December 1976 – 6 February 1978 | |
Chancellor | Helmut Schmidt |
Preceded by | Egon Bahr |
Succeeded by | Rainer Offergeld |
Personal details | |
Born | Marie Stabenow 26 November 1919 Reetz/ Neumark, Weimar Germany |
Died | 21 May 1983 West Berlin, West Germany | (aged 63)
Political party | Social Democratic Party |
Children | 1 |
Marie Schlei ( née: Stabenow; 26 November 1919 – 21 May 1983) was a German politician and a member of Social Democratic Party (SPD). She served as minister of economic cooperation from 1976 to 1978, being the first female head of the ministry. [1]
She was born Marie Stabenow in Reetz, Pommern, on 26 November 1919. [2] [3] She attended secondary school and worked in various jobs, including saleswoman, postal clerk and local government clerk. [3] She left her hometown in 1945 and settled first in Weserbergland and then in Berlin. [3]
Schlei began to work as a teacher in Berlin and became a school administrator of a school in the Berlin's Wedding quarter. Next she worked as a school inspector. [3]
Schlei joined the SPD in 1949. [3] She was elected to the Bundestag for the party representing Berlin in 1969. She held the post until 1983. [4] She was the parliamentary state secretary in the premier's office from 1974 to 1976. [5] [6]
Schlei was appointed minister of economic cooperation to the cabinet led by Prime Minister Helmut Schmidt on 15 December 1976, replacing Egon Bahr in the post. [7] Her appointment was not welcomed by the German media due to being a woman. [7] On 16 February 1978, she was replaced by Rainer Offergeld in the post. [5] [8]
She married in 1940, and her husband died in 1943 while fighting in World War II. [3] She had a son from this marriage. [3] Schlei died of cancer in West Berlin on 21 May 1983. [2] [4]
In 1984, the Marie Schlei Association was founded in Hamburg for her memory to help women in Africa, Asia and Latin America. [9] [10] The association develops projects to this end. [9]