Renger, Annemarie (1919–)

German politician. Name variations: Annemarie Renger-Loncarevic. Born Annemarie Wildung in Leipzig, Oct 7, 1919; dau. of Fritz Wildung (one of the founders of German socialist workers' sports movement) and Martha (Scholz) Wildung; had 4 brothers (3 of whom were killed on battlefields as German soldiers during WWII) and 1 sister; attended a lyceum in Berlin; m. Emil Renger (advertising manager), 1938 (killed fighting near Chartres, France, 1944); m. Aleksandar Loncarevic; children: (1st m.) Rolf Renger (b. 1938).

One of the best-known women in public office in West Germany, began working as personal assistant to Social Democratic leader Kurt Schumacher (1945); successfully ran as a Social Democratic candidate for a seat representing Schleswig-Holstein in the Bundestag (1953); would retain her parliamentary seat without interruption until 1990; was a member of SPD Parteivorstand (managing committee, 1961–73) and a member of SPD Parteipräsidium (party council, 1970–73); was 1 of the 4 members of SPD parliamentary office responsible for the financial, personnel, and organizational affairs of the party within the Bundestag (1969–72); elected president of the Bundestag (1972), the 1st woman to hold that office; relinquished the Bundestag presidency to run unsuccessfully for presidency of the Federal Republic (1976), then became the Bundestag's vice-president, a post she retained until the 1st national elections of newly unified Germany were held in Dec 1990; retired from politics (1990); was chair of the Bundestag delegates working for better German-Israeli relations and chaired German Helsinki Human Rights Committee; was also a leading personality of German Council for the European Movement, serving as its president for many years.

See also Women in World History.