Gesine Schwan
Gesine Schwan | |
---|---|
Viadrina European University | |
In office 1 October 1999 – 30 September 2008 | |
Preceded by | Hans Weiler |
Succeeded by | Gunter Pleuger |
Personal details | |
Born | Berlin, Germany | 22 May 1943
Political party | Social Democratic Party |
Spouses | |
Education | Free University of Berlin University of Freiburg |
Gesine Schwan (née Schneider, 22 May 1943) is a German
Personal life
Born in
In 1969, Schwan married her first husband, Professor Alexander Schwan, with whom she had two children and who died in 1989.[3] In 2004, Gesine Schwan celebrated her second wedding with longtime companion Peter Eigen in Berlin. He is a former World Bank manager as well as a founder and current Chair of the Advisory Council of Transparency International. Schwan is very engaged in German and Polish mutual understanding and therefore supports, in numerous ways, the work of the Freya von Moltke Stiftung for the New Kreisau. She has given numerous presentations on this topic.[4]
Academic life
Education
In 1962, Schwan graduated (
Early career
After research stays in
Professorship
Schwan was appointed full professor at the Department of Political Science at FU Berlin in 1977. At the time, her research fields encompassed political theory, philosophy, psychology, and culture as well as theories of democracy and socialism. In 1980/81, she had a research stay at the
In 1999, Gesine Schwan competed for the post of
Political career
Schwan belongs to the German tradition of social democratic opposition to Karl Marx's theories. In September 1974, she was one of the founding members of the Seeheimer Kreis, a conservative think tank within the SPD.[9] She became a member of the SPD Grundwertekommission (Commission for Fundamental Values) in 1977. In 1984, she was removed from this position after criticizing the party's Ostpolitik as cooperating too closely with communist governments, while not engaging enough with dissidents.[10] Rather she sought for support and dialog with those Eastern Europeans who would dare to criticize their governments.[11] Schwan was reinstated in the Grundwertekommission in 1996. Since 2002, she has presided over the German-Polish Forum together with Janusz Reiter. In November 2004, the German government under Gerhard Schröder appointed her to the newly created office of the co-ordinator for cooperation with Poland (her counterpart on the Polish side was then Irena Lipowicz).[5] She retained this position when the government changed and became headed by Christian Democrat Angela Merkel. In February 2009, she criticized Schröder for being too uncritical towards Vladimir Putin and too insensitive about Polish concerns about closer German-Russian ties.[12]
On 15 September 2010, Schwan supported the new initiative Spinelli Group in the European Parliament, which was founded to reinvigorate the strive for federalisation of the European Union (EU). Other prominent supporters are: Jacques Delors, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Guy Verhofstadt, Jo Leinen, Andrew Duff, and Elmar Brok.
Presidential elections
On 23 May 2004, Schwan was the SPD candidate for the
Later political career
In the 2019 SPD leadership election, Schwan announced her intention to run for the position as the party's co-chair, together with Ralf Stegner.[16]
Other activities
- Einstein Forum, Member of the Board of Trustees[17]
- CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg, Member of the Board of Trustees[18]
- Museum Berggruen, Member of the International Council[19]
- Theodor Heuss Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 1994)
- Technical University of Berlin, Member of the Board of Trustees (2018-2019)[20]
Controversy
Ahead of the 2009 presidential election, Schwan was criticized by the
Bibliography
- Schwan, Gesine (1974). Die Gesellschaftskritik von Karl Marx. Philosophische und politökonomische Voraussetzungen.
- Sozialismus in der Demokratie? Theorie einer konsequent sozialdemokratischen Politik, 1982
- Politik und Schuld. Die zerstörerische Macht des Schweigens, 1997. ISBN 3-596-13404-8
- Antikommunismus und Antiamerikanismus in Deutschland. Kontinuität und Wandel nach 1945, 1999
- Schwan, Gesine; Jerzy Holzer; Marie-Claire Lavabre & Birgit Schwelling (2006). Demokratische politische Identität. Deutschland, Polen und Frankreich im Vergleich. Wiesbaden.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Schwan, Gesine (Spring 2007). "Bridging the Oder: reflections on Poland, Germany, and the transformation of Europe - Part I. Lecture delivered at the German Unification Symposium, October 3, 2006". Bulletin of the German Historical Institute. 40: 39–46.
Awards and honours
This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Gesine Schwan" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2017) |
- 1993 Federal cross of merits (Bundesverdienstkreuz1. Klasse)
- 1999 Urania-Medal Award for Particular Activities in the Scientific National Education
- 2002 Commander's Cross of the Order of Merits of the Federal Republic of Germany (Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz)
- 2004 Marion Dönhoff Award for International Agreement and Conciliation
- 2006 Honorary doctor of the European University Institute, Florence[22]
References
- ^ Abramsohn, Jennifer (2008-05-27). "Presidency Dispute Deepens Rift in Merkel's Coalition" (PDF). Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-08-13. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ Polzar, Wolfgang (2004-05-25). "German Evangelical elected President". Spero News. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
- ^ Who's Who. The People-Lexicon. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Freya :: Schirmherr und Gremien / Kuratorium - Kuratorium". Archived from the original on 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
- ^ Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
- ^ Schwan, Gesine (1971). Leszek Kołakowski. A Political Philosophy of Liberty according to Marx. Stuttgart/Berlin/Köln.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Schwan, Gesine (1974). The Social Critique of Karl Marx. Philosophical and Economical Bases. Stuttgart/Berlin/Köln/Mainz.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b "Schwan-Porträt: Professorin mit internationalem Profil - Spiegel Online - Nachrichten - Politik". Der Spiegel (in German). www.spiegel.de. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ^ Johannes Kahrs; Sandra Viehbeck (2005). "In der Mitte der Partei: Gründung, Geschichte und Wirken des Seeheimer Kreises" (PDF) (in German). Die Seeheimer e.V., Berlin. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-03. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
- ^ Vickrey, David (2008-05-28). "Fascinating Woman: Gesine Schwan". German-American opinion: Politics and culture. Dialog International. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
- ^ "Germany's President Köhler Wants a Second Term". Spiegel Online. 2008-05-22. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
- ^ "Gesine Schwan zu Russland: "Ich habe etwas gegen Sonderbeziehungen" - Spiegel Online - Nachrichten - Politik". Der Spiegel (in German). www.spiegel.de. 28 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ^ "Rulers: May 2004". B. Schemmel. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ Spiegel Staff (2008-05-26). "Presidency Row Deepens Rift in Merkel's Coalition". Letter from Berlin. Spiegel Online. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ "Koehler announces second presidential bid". IRNA. 2008-05-22. Archived from the original on 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ Nahles-Nachfolge: Schwan und Stegner bewerben sich für SPD-Vorsitz Der Spiegel, August 14, 2019.
- ^ Board of Trustees Einstein Forum.
- CARE Deutschland.
- Museum Berggruen.
- ^ 2018-2019 Board of Trustees Technical University of Berlin.
- Spiegel Online. 2009-05-23. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
- ^ Stefano Bartolini; et al. (November 2006). "Thirty Years: A European Journey" (PDF). EUI review. European University Institute, Badia Fiesolana. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-11. Retrieved 2008-06-25.