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Lothar Bisky | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2005 | |
| Chairman ofThe Left | |
| In office 16 June 2007 – 15 May 2010 Serving with Oskar Lafontaine | |
| Preceded by | himself (as Leader of theParty of Democratic Socialism) |
| Succeeded by | Gesine Lötzsch |
| Chairman of theParty of Democratic Socialism | |
| In office 29 June 2003 – 15 June 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Gabi Zimmer |
| Succeeded by | himself (as co-leader ofThe Left) |
| In office 31 January 1993 – 14 October 2000 | |
| Preceded by | Gregor Gysi |
| Succeeded by | Gabi Zimmer |
| Member of the European Parliament forGermany | |
| In office 14 July 2009 – 13 August 2013 | |
| Succeeded by | Martina Michels |
| Member of theBundestag forBrandenburg | |
| In office 18 October 2005 – 14 July 2009 | |
| Succeeded by | Steffen Hultsch |
| Constituency | The Left Party.PDS List |
| Vice President of the Landtag of Brandenburg (on proposal of the PDS-group) | |
| In office 13 October 2004 – 20 October 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Gerlinde Stobrawa |
| Leader of thePDS inLandtag of Brandenburg | |
| In office 26 October 1990 – 13 October 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Dagmar Enkelmann |
| Member of theLandtag of Brandenburg | |
| In office 26 October 1990 – 20 October 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Kerstin Meier |
| Constituency | PDS List |
| Member of theVolkskammer forPotsdam | |
| In office 5 April 1990 – 2 October 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Head of theCulture Department of theCentral Committee | |
| In office November 1989 – 3 December 1989 | |
| Secretary | |
| Preceded by | Ursula Ragwitz |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1941-08-17)17 August 1941 |
| Died | 13 August 2013(2013-08-13) (aged 71) Leipzig, Germany |
| Party | SED (1963–1989) PDS (1989–2007) The Left (2007–2013) |
| Website | lothar-bisky |
Lothar Bisky (17 August 1941 – 13 August 2013) was a German politician. He was the chairman of theParty of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the successor ofEast Germany'sSocialist Unity Party (SED). In June 2007, he became co-chairman ofThe Left (Die Linke) party, formed by a merger of the PDS and the much smallerLabour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative. From 2007 until 2010, he was the President of theParty of the European Left. Also, he was the Publisher of the socialist newspaperNeues Deutschland.
Bisky was born in Zollbrück,Pomerania, Germany (nowKorzybie, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland), from where hecame after 1945 as refugee toSchleswig-Holstein in northernWest Germany. In order to get a free university education he emigrated to CommunistGDR at the age of 18, and after facing initial doubts due to his heritage was allowed to join theSocialist Unity Party in 1963, but did not rise to leadership positions until shortly after the fall of communism and the resulting purge of hardliners from the party. He wasrector of the University of Film and Television (Potsdam-Babelsberg) from 1986 to 1990. In 1991 he became a member of the board of directors of regional television channel ORB (now part ofRBB).
In 1995, it was discovered that Bisky had beenan informer for theStasi. The Stasi records on his wife referred to his activities as an informant.[1]: 63 Subsequent investigations revealed that Bisky was registered by the Stasi with the code names ofBienert between 1966 and 1970, and asKlaus Heine[2] from 1987. Lothar Bisky was also described in Stasi records aszuverlässig (reliable), the highest level of trust for an informer.
When Bisky was promoted, theMain Directorate for Reconnaissance (German:Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung) of the Stasi issued a statement where Bisky was described as "a reliable comrade, who strictly follows orders and always is honest with the Ministry for State Security (Stasi)" ("ein zuverlässiger Genosse, der sich strikt an die gegebenen Anweisungen hält und gegenüber dem MfS stets ehrlich war").[3][4]
In 1990, he was a member of theVolkskammer and beginning in 1990 he was a member of the state parliament inBrandenburg.
He was chairman of the PDS from 1993 until his resignation in 2000 over a defeat for the executive committee on support for United Nations military intervention. He was re-elected chairman in 2003 after this "left turn" had cost the party its seats in theBundestag in 2002. Bisky was seen to be on the moderate, social democratic wing of the party and was a long-time close ally of the party's most prominent figure,Gregor Gysi. He was often regarded for his abilities to lead meaningful discussions between parties of completely opposite viewpoints, be it within his own party or in media events with other groups.
The party returned strongly to the Bundestag in the 2005 election. Bisky, one of 54 Left MPs, was nominated by his party to become one of the six vice presidents of the Bundestag. When the new Bundestag was constituted on 18 October, however, he failed three times to be elected. Several MPs explained this with the fact that he was an informant of the Stasi. Later, he failed a fourth time, and subsequently gave up his bid for the vice president position which was given toPetra Pau instead.
Lothar Bisky was married and the father of three sons. His oldest son, Jens Bisky, is a journalist and writer and the second-oldest,Norbert Bisky, is a painter. His youngest son, Stephan Bisky, died in late 2008 while working towards hisneuro-informatics doctorate at theUniversity of Edinburgh.[5]
He died in a hospital inLeipzig as a result of falling down the stairs in his apartment in August 2013.[6]
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