Gregor Gysi
| Gregor Gysi | |
|---|---|
 |
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| President of the Party of the European Left |
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Assumed office 17 December 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Pierre Laurent |
| Member of the Bundestag | |
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Assumed office 18 September 2005 |
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| Constituency | Berlin Treptow – Köpenick |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 January 1948 East Berlin, Soviet Zone of Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party |
Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1967–1989) Party of Democratic Socialism (1989–2007) The Left (2007–present) |
| Alma mater | Humboldt University of Berlin |
Gregor Gysi (German pronunciation: [ˈɡiːzi]; born 16 January 1948) is a German attorney and key politician of the political party The Left (Die Linke), a party which emerged in part from the old East German Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).
He belonged to the SED's reformist camp at the time of the pro-democracy transition inspired by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He has strongly denied allegations that he used to help the Stasi – the East German secret police. He was the last leader of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and led the effort that transformed it into the post-Communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), forerunner of The Left.
Gysi was born in East Berlin, Soviet Zone of Germany. His father, Klaus Gysi, was a high-ranking official in East Germany, and was Minister of Culture from 1966-73. His mother, Irene, was the sister of political activist Gottfried Lessing, who was married to British writer and Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing, during his exile in Southern Rhodesia. The surname "Gysi" is of Swiss-German origin. He is of partial Jewish ancestry; his paternal grandmother was Jewish, as was one of his maternal great-grandfathers. One of his maternal great-grandmothers was Russian. His sister, Gabriele, is an actress, who escaped from East Germany in 1985. Today, she is chief dramaturge at the Volksbühne in Berlin.
Gysi's political career started in the then-ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) of East Germany, to which he was admitted in 1967. In 1971 he became a licensed attorney, and during the 1970s and 1980s defended several prominent dissidents, including Rudolf Bahro, Robert Havemann, Ulrike Poppe, and Bärbel Bohley.
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