Heide Simonis

Heide Simonis (; 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 2025, she is the longest serving former minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein and also the longest serving former female minister-president of all German states (11 years, 343 days).

Early life and education Born Heide Steinhardt in Bonn on 4 July 1943,

Despite basing its campaign for the 2005 elections on Simonis' popularity, the SPD suffered a heavy defeat due to the bad economic situation and its support dropped to 38.7% (for the first time in almost twenty years behind the CDU). On 17 March 2005, Simonis failed to be re-elected as minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein in four consecutive ballots by the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag. 2018 –