Cornelia Ernst (born 30 November 1956) is a German politician and

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She is a member of

The Left Party The Left may refer to: *Left-wing politics in general or to the following political parties: ** The Left (Bulgaria) or ''Levitsata!'' ** The Left (Czech Republic) or ''Levice'' ** ''Die Linke'', also known as The Left ** The Left (Italy) or ''La ...

, part of the

European United Left–Nordic Green Left The Left in the European Parliament (The Left) is a left-wing political group of the European Parliament established in 1995. Prior to January 2021 it was named the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (, GUE/NGL). The group is mainly compos ...

. She was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

in 2009, prior to which she had been a member of the Parliament of Saxony from 1998. From 2007 till 2009 she had been the regional chairman of the Left Party in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. On 15 February 2014 she got voted on place 3 of the group of nominated candidates of the Left party for the European Parliament and was re-elected to the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Life and work

After

graduating A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called commencement, congregation, convocation or invocation. The date of the graduation ...

from secondary school in 1974 and her entry into the SED she finished her degree/diploma in education science in 1979. Ernst got her PhD in 1983 at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

with the thesis on ''"Zur Geschichte des Internationalen Frauentages in der Übergangsperiode vom Kapitalismus zum Sozialismus auf dem Gebiet der DDR (1945/46 - 1961)" (English: The history of the

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

in the transition period from capitalism to socialism on the territory of the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

(1945/46 - 1961)'' and was a teachers trainer at the departement for teachers training in

Großenhain Großenhain (; also written as Grossenhain; , ) is a Große Kreisstadt (German for major district town) in the district of Meissen, Saxony, Germany. It was originally known as Hayne. The current name simply means "big Hayne". History Großenhain ...

Political career

From 1991 until 1999 Ernst had been a parliamentary advisor for the state parliamentary group of the PDS in Saxony and substitute chairman of the PDS in Saxony. She became a Member of the Parliament of Saxony in 1998. In November 2001 Ernst got elected as chairman, as successor of Peter Porsch. After the merger of WASG and PDS forming the party DIE LINKE she got elected as chairman of the state association of DIE LINKE in Saxony. In state parliament she was a member of the committee for Home Affairs and a member of the committee for Constitutional, Legal and European Affairs. As local politician she also was a member of the City Council in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. Since 2009 Ernst is a Member of European Parliament. In her first term she was on the board of the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, a member of the ''Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs'', a substitute on the ''Committee on Regional Development'' and the ''Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality'' and a Member of the Delegation for relations with Iran. After the reelection in 2014 she stayed in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and became a substitute on the ''Committee on Industry, Research and Energy''. Additionally to the Iran delegation she became a Member of the Delegation for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.European Parliament
/ref> And got elected as the speaker of the German Delegation of Left party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernst, Cornelia 1956 births Living people People from Oder-Spree People from Bezirk Frankfurt Socialist Unity Party of Germany members Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany) politicians Die Linke politicians Members of the Landtag of Saxony Die Linke MEPs MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 21st-century women MEPs for Germany German socialist feminists