Elli Schmidt
Elli Paula Schmidt (9 August 1908 – 30 July 1980) was a German communist political activist with links to Moscow, where as a young woman she spent most of the war years. She returned in 1945 to what later (in 1949) became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) where she pursued a successful political career till her fall from grace: that came as part of a wider clear out of comrades critical of the national leadership in the aftermath of the 1953 uprising. She was formally rehabilitated on 29 July 1956, but never returned to mainstream politics.
Elli Schmidt | |
|---|---|
| Chairwoman of the Democratic Women's League of Germany | |
| In office 1949 – September 1953 | |
| Preceded by | Emmy Damerius-Koenen |
| Succeeded by | Ilse Thiele |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Elli Paula Schmidt 9 August 1908 Berlin-Wedding, Germany |
| Died | 30 July 1980 Berlin, East Germany |
| Political party | KPD SED |
| Spouse | Anton Ackermann (1905–1973) |
| Children | 1. Marianne 2. Peter |
| Occupation | Political activist, Resistance activist, politician |
In 1948 Schmidt became the first head of the Democratic Women's League ("Demokratischer Frauenbund Deutschlands" / DFD), one of several government backed mass organisations included in the highly centralised power structure then being developed for the country. Between 1950 and 1954 she was a member of the Central Committee of the ruling Socialist Unity Party ("Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands" / SED), but within the Central Committee she never progressed beyond the candidates' list for Politburo membership.