Heide Simonis

Heide Simonis (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪdə ziˈmoːnɪs]; 4 July 1943 – 12 July 2023) was a German author and politician. She was in the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She was minister of finance in Schleswig-Holstein from 1988, until she became minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein.

Heide Simonis
Simonis in 2009
Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein
In office 19 March 1993 – 27 April 2005
Deputy	Claus Möller (1993–1996), Rainder Steenblock (1996–2000), Annemarie Lütkes (2000–2005)
Preceded by	Björn Engholm
Succeeded by	Peter Harry Carstensen
Deputy Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein-->
In office 10 March 1993 – 19 March 1993
Appointed by	Björn Engholm
Preceded by	Günther Jansen
Succeeded by	Claus Möller
Schleswig-Holstein Minister of Finance
In office 5 May 1988 – 19 March 1993
Preceded by	Roger Asmussen
Succeeded by	Claus Möller
Member of the Bundestag
In office 3 October 1976 – 8 June 1988
Member of the Kiel Municipal Council
In office 1971–1976
Personal details
Born	Heide Steinhardt (1943-07-04)4 July 1943 Bonn, Germany
Died	12 July 2023(2023-07-12) (aged 80) Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Political party	CDU Social Democratic Party (SPD)
Education	University of Kiel University of Erlangen–Nuremberg

She was the first woman to serve as head of a state government in German history, and the only woman to do so in the 20th century. She served until 2005. She died on 12 July 2023, eight days after her 80th birthday.