Heide Simonis

Heide Simonis
Simonis in 2009
Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein
In office
19 March 1993 – 27 April 2005
Preceded byBjörn Engholm
Succeeded byPeter Harry Carstensen
Schleswig-Holstein Minister of Finance
In office
5 May 1988 – 19 March 1993
Preceded byRoger Asmussen
Succeeded byClaus Möller
Member of the Bundestag
In office
3 October 1976 – 8 June 1988
Personal details
BornHeide Steinhardt
(1943-07-04)4 July 1943
Died12 July 2023(2023-07-12) (aged 80)
Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
PartySocial Democratic
Education
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Heide Simonis (German: [ˈhaɪdə ziˈmoːnɪs]; 4 July 1943 – 12 July 2023) was a German author and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She was minister of finance in Schleswig-Holstein from 1988 until 1993, when she became minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein. She was the first woman to serve as head of a state government in German history and the only woman to do so in the 20th century, serving until 2005. As of 2025, she is the longest serving former minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein and also the longest serving former female minister-president of all German states (11 years, 343 days).