Marie Schlei
Marie Schlei in 1975
Minister of Economic Cooperation
In office
15 December 1976 – 6 February 1978
ChancellorHelmut Schmidt
Preceded byEgon Bahr
Succeeded byRainer Offergeld
Personal details
Born
Marie Stabenow

26 November 1919
Reetz/Neumark, Weimar Germany
Died21 May 1983(1983-05-21) (aged 63)
West Berlin, West Germany
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Children1

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]

Early life and education

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]

Career and activities

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]

Personal life and death

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]

Legacy

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]

References

  1. ↑ Hannelore Börgel (7 October 2009). "Focusing on global processes". The Broker. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Marie Schlei" (in German). Fembio.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Marie Schlei". Munzinger Biographie (in German). Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  4. 1 2 Renate Faerber-Husemann (25 November 2019). "Marie Schlei: Die unterschätzte Entwicklungshilfeministerin". Vorwärts (in German). Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  5. 1 2 Heinrich August Winkler (2007). Germany: The Long Road West. Vol. 2. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-19-150061-9.
  6. ↑ Shlomo Shafir (2004). "The Twisted Road toward Raprochement". In Detlef Junker (ed.). The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War, 1945-1990: A Handbook. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 477. ISBN 978-0-521-83420-9.
  7. 1 2 Joni Lovenduski (1986). Women and European Politics: Contemporary Feminism and Public Policy. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-87023-508-5.
  8. ↑ Patricia Clough (4 February 1978). "Four young politicians appointed to Cabinet posts in reshuffle rejuvenate Herr Schmidt's team". The Times. No. 60228. Bonn. p. 4. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Who we are - what we do". Marie Schlei Association. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "Marie-Schlei-Verein e. V." Netzkraft Movement. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
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