Regine Hildebrandt born as Regine Radischewski in Berlin, Germany, was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 biologist

Biologist

A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 (Social Democratic Party of Germany

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

). From 1959 to 1964, she studied biology

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

 at the Humboldt-Universität in Berlin.

In 1978 she was awarded a doctorate for research on medicines. This was completed while she was working for the pharmaceutical industry. She was then appointed to a leading position at the centre for the study of diabetics.

The summer of 1989 brought a dramatic change in her life when she, together with her husband, Jorg, was among the co-founders of Democracy Now, which sought an alliance of Christians and critical Marxists "to think about our future, to think about a society based on solidarity". In October 1989 she joined the Social Democrats and became a key figure of the party in Brandenburg. After the first free elections in the GDR, Hildebrand became Labour Minister in the coalition government of Lothar de Maizière

Lothar de Maizière

Lothar de Maizière is a German christian democratic politician. In 1990, he served as the only democratically elected Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic, and as such was the last leader of an independent East Germany....

. From November 1990 onwards she served as Labour Minister in Brandenburg. When the Social Democrats lost their absolute majority in the 1999 state elections and minister president Manfred Stolpe

Manfred Stolpe

Manfred Stolpe was Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Housing of the Federal Republic of Germany from 2002 until 2005. From 1990 until 2002 he was Premier of the State of Brandenburg.-Biography:...

 indicated to form a grand coalition with the conservative CDU, Hildebrand left the cabinet, because she had strongly campaigned for an alliance with the left-wing PDS.

She was awarded the Fritz Bauer Prize in 2000. On her 60th birthday, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Bundesverdienstkreuz

The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...

.

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