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Brigitte ZypriesGerman lawyer and politician
Date of Birth: 16.11.1953
Country:  Germany |
Content:
- A Legal and Political Career
- Transition to Politics
- Ministerial Roles
- Parliamentary Service and Controversy
- Later Political Roles
A Legal and Political Career
Education and Early CareerBrigitta Zypries embarked on her legal studies at Justus Liebig University Giessen in 1972. She successfully completed the first state examination in law in 1978 and the second in 1980. Following an internship at the Regional Court of Giessen, Zypries worked as a research assistant at her alma mater.
Transition to Politics
In 1984, Zypries became a reporter for the Hessian State Chancellery under Social Democratic Premier Holger Börner. Four years later, she joined the First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court as a scientific assistant. Zypries's political career gained momentum in 1991 when she joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Ministerial Roles
Zypries's expertise in constitutional law earned her an invitation from Lower Saxony Premier Gerhard Schröder to the State Chancellery in Hannover in 1991. She became a State Secretary in Lower Saxony's Ministry of Women, Labor, and Social Affairs in 1997.
Upon Schröder's election as Federal Chancellor in 1998, Zypries was brought to Berlin as State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior. She reached the pinnacle of her ministerial career when she was appointed Federal Minister of Justice in Schröder's second government in 2002. Zypries held this position throughout Merkel's first coalition government.
Parliamentary Service and Controversy
Elected to the Bundestag in 2005, Zypries received the Big Brother Award in 2004 for her opposition to large-scale surveillance and again in 2007 for proposing a German telecom data storage law. Despite facing a tight race, Zypries narrowly retained her Bundestag seat in 2009.
Later Political Roles
After the 2009 election, Zypries was excluded from Merkel's second government. From 2013 to 2017, she served as Parliamentary State Secretary for Aerospace under Economics and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel.
In 2017, Zypries became Minister of Economics and Energy in Merkel's third government. She announced her retirement from politics in 2016 and did not participate in Merkel's fourth government in 2018.
