Anton Ackermann (born Eugen Hanisch, 25 November 1905 – 4 May 1973) was an East German politician.[1] In 1953, he briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs.[1][2]
Life and career
He was born into the family of a weaver and started to worked as an unskilled labourer from a young age while pursuing his elementary studies. At the same time, he began his political career in the Free Socialist Youth (FSJ) of the Social Democratic Party.[3]
From 1935 to 1937 he lived in Prague. During the Spanish Civil War, Ackermann was the leader of the Political School of the International Brigades. After staying a short while, he went to Moscow and became editor of the German language newspaper "The Free Word".
From 1949 to 1953, he was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. After the arrest of the minister, Georg Dertinger, Ackermann succeeded him, briefly, as Minister of Foreign Affairs.[1]
In 1953–1954, he was expelled from the Politburo and Central Committee and fired as minister because of his factional opposition to party leader Walter Ulbricht.
In 1956 he was rehabilitated and worked for the State Planning Bureau.
In 1970 he was rewarded with the Honor Clasp of the Patriotic Order of Merit. Ill with cancer, he committed suicide in 1973.[1]
^ Dieter K. Buse, and Juergen C. Doerr, eds., Modern Germany: An Encyclopedia of History, People, and Culture, 1871-1990 (2 vol. Garland, 1998) pp 6–7.
Buse, Dieter K. and Doerr, Juergen C., eds. Modern Germany: An Encyclopedia of History, People, and Culture, 1871–1990 (2 vol. Garland Pub., 1998) pp 6–7.