Heide Simonis | |
|---|---|
 Simonis in 2009 | |
| Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein | |
| In office 19 March 1993 – 27 April 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Björn Engholm |
| Succeeded by | Peter Harry Carstensen |
| 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 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Heide Steinhardt 4 July 1943 Bonn, Greater German Reich |
| Died | 12 July 2023 (aged 80) Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany |
| Political party | Social Democratic |
| Education | |
Heide Simonis (German: [ˈhaɪdə ziˈmoːnɪs]; 4 July 1943 – 12 July 2023) was a German author and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She was minister of finance in Schleswig-Holstein from 1988 until 1993, when she became minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein. 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, serving until 2005. As of September 2023, she is also the longest serving former female minister-president of a German state (11 years, 343 days).