Björn Engholm

Björn Engholm
Engholm in 2019
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office
29 May 1991 – 3 May 1993
Federal ManagerAnke Fuchs
Karlheinz Blessing
Preceded byHans-Jochen Vogel
Succeeded byJohannes Rau (interim)
Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein
In office
31 May 1988 – 3 May 1993
DeputyMarianne Tidick
Eva Rühmkorf
Günther Jansen
Heide Simonis
Preceded byHenning Schwarz (interim)
Succeeded byHeide Simonis
President of the Bundesrat
In office
1 November 1988 – 31 October 1989
First Vice PresidentBernhard Vogel
Preceded byBernhard Vogel
Succeeded byWalter Momper
Leader of the Opposition in the
Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
In office
12 April 1983 – 31 May 1988
Minister-PresidentUwe Barschel
Henning Schwarz (interim)
Preceded byKlaus Matthiesen
Succeeded byHeiko Hoffmann
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
In office
12 April 1983 – 31 May 1988
Preceded byKlaus Matthiesen
Succeeded byGert Börnsen
Schmidt cabinet
Minister of Education and Science
In office
28 January 1981 – 1 October 1982
ChancellorHelmut Schmidt
Preceded byJürgen Schmude
Succeeded byDorothee Wilms
Parliamentary State Secretary in the
Ministry of Education and Science
In office
18 May 1977 – 28 January 1981
ChancellorHelmut Schmidt
MinisterHelmut Rohde
Jürgen Schmude
Preceded byPeter Glotz
Succeeded byEckart Kuhlwein
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the
Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
In office
12 April 1983 – 7 November 1994
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded byWolfgang Herrmann
ConstituencySocial Democratic List
Member of the Bundestag
for Lübeck
In office
20 October 1969 – 29 March 1983
Preceded byHelmut Wendelborn
Succeeded byReinhold Hiller
Personal details
Born (1939-11-09) 9 November 1939 (age 84)
Lübeck-Moisling, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Free State of Prussia, Nazi Germany (now Germany)
Political partySocial Democratic Party (1962–)
Spouse
Barbara Engholm
​
(m. 1964)​
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Hamburg
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Typographer
  • Docent

Björn Engholm (born 9 November 1939) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was Federal Minister for Education and Science from 1981 to 1982, and in 1982 also Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forests. From 1988 to 1993 he was the Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein and from 1991 to 1993 the leader of the Social Democratic Party.

Engholm was educated at University of Hamburg.[1] He was elected Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein in 1988, in the wake of the Barschel affair/Waterkantgate: he had been spied on and was a victim of severe defamation (HIV infection, tax evasion, etc.) by the Barschel campaign. The Social Democrats won an impressive 54.2% (up almost 10%) and gained an absolute majority for the first time ever.[2] Engholm served as President of the Bundesrat in 1988/89.

While Engholm was popular with the electorate, he was forced to resign as party leader and Minister-President in 1993 after discrepancies surfaced over the testimonies he gave in the Barschel affair (Schubladenaffäre, drawer affair). A party official had paid 50,000 Deutsche Mark (kept in a kitchen drawer) to the spy of the Barschel affair to keep the espionage a secret for several weeks, to reveal the scandal on election weekend with a bigger impact and then present Engholm as a victim.

He was succeeded by Rudolf Scharping as party chairman and by Heide Simonis as Minister-President.

Since 1964, Engholm has been married to painter Barbara Engholm (born 1940); they have two daughters.

See also

References

  1. ^ Publications, Europa (2003). The International Who's Who 2004. Psychology Press. p. 494. ISBN 9781857432176.
  2. ^ "Drucken". todayinhistory.de. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
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Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
1991–1993 		Succeeded by