Oskar Lafontaine
| Oskar Lafontaine | |
|---|---|
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| Mayor of Saarbrücken | |
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In office 1976 – 9 April 1985 |
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| Preceded by | Fritz Schuster |
| Succeeded by | Hans-Jürgen Koebnick |
| Minister President of Saarland | |
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In office 9 April 1985 – 10 November 1998 |
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| Preceded by | Werner Zeyer |
| Succeeded by | Reinhard Klimmt |
| Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany | |
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In office 16 November 1995 – 12 March 1999 |
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| Preceded by | Rudolf Scharping |
| Succeeded by | Gerhard Schröder |
| Federal Minister of Finance | |
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In office 27 October 1998 – 18 March 1999 |
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| Preceded by | Theodor Waigel |
| Succeeded by | Hans Eichel |
| Co-Chairman of The Left | |
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In office 16 June 2007 – 15 May 2010 Serving with Lothar Bisky |
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| Preceded by | New title |
| Succeeded by | Klaus Ernst & Gesine Lötzsch |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 September 1943 Saarlouis-Roden, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party |
Social Democratic Party (until 2005) The Left |
| Spouse(s) | Ingrid Bachert (1967–1982) Margret Müller (1982–1988) (1 son) Christa Müller (1993–) (separated) (1 son) Sahra Wagenknecht (2014-) |
| Domestic partner | Sahra Wagenknecht (2011–) |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Oskar Lafontaine (German pronunciation: [ˈlafɔntɛn]; born 16 September 1943) is a German politician who served in the government of Germany as Minister of Finance from 1998 to 1999. Previously he was Minister President of the state of Saarland from 1985 to 1998, and he was also Chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 1995 to 1999.
Beginning in 2007, Lafontaine was co-chairman of The Left. After being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, he announced his resignation from federal political functions in January 2010, citing health reasons.
Lafontaine was born in Saarlouis into a family of craftsmen. His father, Hans Lafontaine, was a professional baker and was killed serving in World War II. He spent his childhood living with his mother, Katharina (née Ferner), and his twin brother, Hans, in Dillingen.
He attended a Catholic episcopal boarding institution in Prüm and there was educated at the Regino-Gymnasium, a public school. He left school in 1962 and received a scholarship from Cusanuswerk, the scholarship body of the Catholic Church in Germany, to study physics at the universities of Bonn and Saarland. Lafontaine graduated in 1969; his thesis concerned the production of barium titanate crystals. He worked for Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft Saarbrücken until 1974, serving on its board from 1971.
Lafontaine has been married four times and has two sons by his second and third wives. In November 2011, Lafontaine officially presented fellow politician Sahra Wagenknecht as his new girlfriend, who is 26 years his junior. Since December 22, 2014 they are married.He is a non-practising Catholic.
Lafontaine rose to prominence locally as mayor of Saarbrücken and became more widely known as a critic of chancellor Helmut Schmidt's support for the NATO plan to deploy Pershing II missiles in Germany. From 1985 to 1998 he served as Minister-President of the Saarland. In this position he struggled to preserve the industrial base of the state, which was based on steel production and coal mining with subsidies, and served as President of the Bundesrat in 1992/93.
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