Helin Evrim Sommer (née Evrim Baba; born 7 February 1985) is a German politician, a former member of the

Berlin House of Representatives The of Berlin (House of Representatives) () is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993, the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchnerstraße ...

and of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

for the state of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. She was a member of The Left party until May 2022.

Early life and education

Sommer was born as Hêlîn Evrim Baba in

Varto Varto (; or , ''Varto'') is a town in Muş Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Varto District.Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

name Hêlîn was not allowed at the time in Turkey, so her parents named her Evrim, which translates into evolution in Turkish. Her family is of

Kurdish Alevi Kurdish Alevism ( or ) refers to the unique rituals, sacred place practices, mythological discourses and socio-religious organizations among Kurds who adhere to Alevism. Kurdish Alevis consider their hereditary sacred lineages as semi-deific figu ...

origin. Her father was persecuted for his activity as a socialist trade unionist. After the 1980 coup d'état, the family fled to

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

. After completing her language training, Hêlîn Evrim Sommer passed the state examination for interpreters and translators in 1997 and ran a translation agency until 2000. She worked as an interpreter, translator and expert for notaries and courts as well as for the Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees in Berlin and Brandenburg. From 2005 to 2007 she studied Social Sciences at the

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

of Berlin, followed by History and Gender Studies. She completed her studies in November 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Political career

Sommer joined the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) in 1997. Two years later she was elected to the Berlin state parliament (Abgeordnetenhaus), where she represented the borough of Lichtenberg until 2016. The PDS merged into The Left party in 2007 and Sommer served as the chairman of the local chapter of that party in

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg may refer to: Places * Lichtenberg, Austria * Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France * Lichtenberg, Bavaria, Germany * Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany * Lichtenberg, Mittelsachsen, Saxony, Germany * Lichtenberg (Lausitz), Saxony, Germany * Lichte ...

from 2012 to 2016. In that year, she ran for the mayor's office of the Lichtenberg borough. She renounced her candidacy after failing to win a majority in the first two ballots, lacking support from some members of her own party. There were accusations that she had falsely claimed an academic degree before completing it, which proved to be untrue. At the

2017 German federal election The 2017 German federal election was held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the List of members of the 19th Bundestag, members of the 19th Bundestag. At stake were at least 598 seats in the Bundestag, as well as 111 Overhang seat, overhan ...

she was elected member of the German Bundestag. She was a member of the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development, a delegate to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE (OSCE PA) is an institution of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The primary task of the 323-member Assembly is to facilitate inter-parliamentary dialogue, an important aspect of the o ...

and the deputy chair of the German–Transcaucasian parliamentary co-operation group. In the Parliamentarian Election of 2021 she was a candidate, but was not elected when her party failed to meet the electoral threshold. In May 2022 she resigned from Die Linke also because of the pro-Russian views several The Linke politicians had, regarding the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Personal life

She grew up in

Schöneberg Schöneberg () is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Te ...

in the west, but later settled into

in the east . In 2009 she married the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

historian Robert Sommer with whom she has one child.

References

External links

Bundestag biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sommer, Evrim 1971 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Berlin Female members of the Bundestag 21st-century German women politicians German people of Kurdish descent Kurdish Alevis Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag for Die Linke 21st-century Kurdish politicians Kurdish women in politics Humboldt University of Berlin alumni 21st-century Kurdish women