Awet Tesfaiesus

Political career Tesfaiesus has been a member of Alliance 90/The Greens since 2009. She had previously considered withdrawing from the political scene, but was incentivized to step forward in response to the xenophobic attacks.

Tesfaiesus ran as a direct candidate in Werra-Meißner – Hersfeld-Rotenburg constituency in the 2021 federal election and was elected to the Bundestag. Tesfaiesus became the first black woman elected to the Bundestag in what was a younger and more ethnically diverse Bundestag cohort than previously. In the 2025 federal election she was again elected to the Bundestag after she won a contested fifth place on the party list.

Tesfaiesus aims to remove barriers to naturalization within Germany, including lifting restrictions imposed by the dual citizenship status. Deutschlandfunk, Member of the Supervisory Board Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly, Member Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Member

Personal life Tesfaiesus was born in Asmara in 1974. Her family had sought asylum in Germany to escape political persecution, as her father was sought out by the Ethiopian police due to his support for Eritrean independence. Tesfaiesus lives in a religiously diverse family with members being Catholic, Protestant, Christian Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish and humanist, while she herself is a member of the United Protestant church.

Tesfaiesus had considered moving to Belgium with her 10-year-old son and husband following the Hanau shootings and the elevated xenophobia which had been the cause for the incident.