Helga Kühn-Mengel | |
|---|---|
| Federal Government Commissioner for Patient Affairs | |
| In office 2004–2009 | |
| Member of the German Bundestag | |
| In office 1996–2009 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1947-07-01)1 July 1947 (age 78) Duisburg, Germany |
| Party | Social Democratic Party |
Helga Kühn-Mengel née Kühn (born 1 July 1947 inDuisburg) is a German politician. She was aMember of the German Bundestag from 1996 to 2009 and from 2013 to 2017 and Federal Government Commissioner for Patient Affairs from 2004 to 2009.
After graduating fromAbitur in 1967 fromErzbischöfliches Gymnasium inBrühl, Kühn-Mengel studiedpsychology atUniversity of Cologne, which she completed in 1972 with aDiplom degree inpsychology. She then worked inCologne, first at the research association "Das körperbehinderte Kind" and then at the Centre for Early Intervention and Early Treatment.
Kühn-Mengel is married and has three children.
She has been a member of the SPD since 1972 and has been honorary chairwoman of the Brühl local SPD association since 2004.
Kühn-Mengel has been a member of thedistrict council of theRhein-Erft-Kreis since 1984.
On 23 December 1996, she replacedDietmar Thieser in theGerman Bundestag.
From 1998 to 2002 she was Commissioner for the Disabled and from October 2002 to January 2004 she was spokesperson for the SPDGerman Bundestag working group on health and social security. She was also a member of the SPD parliamentary group executive from November 2002 to November 2004. Kühn-Mengel always ran on thestate listNorth Rhine-Westphalia into the Bundestag.
In the 2009Bundestag election, Kühn-Mengel was defeated byDetlef Seif in theEuskirchen - Erftkreis II constituency (CDU) and also failed to re-enter the Bundestag via the state list.
Kühn-Mengel was re-elected as a candidate in 2012 at the constituency assembly of her Bundestag constituency. Her opponent Melanie Taprogge was clearly defeated.[1]
In the 2013Bundestag election, she succeeded via thestate listNorth Rhine-Westphalia to re-enter the Bundestag.[2]
On 1 January 2004, she was appointed to the newly created office ofFederal Government Commissioner for Patients' Affairs. Her successor on 19 November 2009 wasWolfgang Zöller (CSU) was appointed as her successor on 19 November 2009.
In the 18th legislative period of the German Bundestag, which began in 2013, she was a member of theCommittee on Health.
Kühn-Mengel was honoured with theMarie-Juchacz-Plakette of theWorkers' Welfare Association (AWO), where she was Chairwoman of the AWO Regional Association Rhein-Erft and Euskirchen[3] and sits on the Federal Executive Committee on an honorary basis.
On 14 June 2012, she was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon in Berlin.[4]