Elisabeth Käsemann

Elisabeth Käsemann (11 May 1947 – 24 May 1977) was a West German sociologist killed in Argentina as part of the Dirty War.

Life Käsemann was born in Gelsenkirchen to Margit Käsemann and German theologian Ernst Käsemann. The family moved frequently in her childhood due to her father's work, living in Mainz, Göttingen, and Tübingen (beginning in 1959). She ran a "political study group" at Wildermuth High School, from which she graduated in 1966. She attended Oxford briefly on a language stay before going on to study politics at the Freie Universität Berlin beginning in late 1966. Her coursework required her to take a mandatory practical training semester, which she spent in Bolivia in 1968. There, she worked for the Evangelical Methodist Church in La Paz. She also studied as a sociologist at Tübingen University.

In Argentina, Käsemann furthered literacy projects by teaching in poor neighborhoods.

Following the country's 1976 military coup, she worked to forge documents to help political targets escape the country.

Political aftermath of Käsemann's killing The German government faced criticism for their failure to secure Käsemann's release from Argentina.

In 2012, Wildermuth High School established the Elisabeth Käsemann Award for outstanding social commitment. That same year, a street in Tübingen's Lustnau district was also named in Käsemann's honor.