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The former Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Heide Simonis, has passed away. She died in Kiel on Wednesday, a few days after her 80th birthday, the state chancellery announced. The SPD politician was the first woman in the history of the Federal Republic to head a state government.

Simonis was prime minister of the northernmost state from 1993 to 2005. Her political career ended when she failed to win reelection four times in 2005. After that she appeared in talk, dance and cooking shows, worked in child care and as an author.

Simonis was born in Bonn on July 4, 1943. In 1972 she moved to Schleswig-Holstein with her husband Udo Simonis. From 1976 to 1988 she was a member of the Bundestag and from 1992 to 2005 she was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament. In 1988 she was appointed Minister of Finance in the State Cabinet by then Prime Minister Björn Engholm (SPD), before becoming Head of Government in 2005.

Several years ago, Simonis disclosed her Parkinson’s disease and gradually withdrew from the public eye. In recent years there have been only a few exceptions.

“I mourn the loss of a great politician and a passionate woman from Schleswig-Holstein,” said Kiel’s incumbent Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU). Simonis “made Schleswig-Holstein even more likeable with her personality, her commitment, her humanity and her straightforwardness”. As a politician “she didn’t mince words, was sincere, open and always honest”. (sda/afp)