Freimut Duve (26 November 1936 – 3 March 2020) was a German journalist, writer, politician and human rights activist. From 1980 to 1998 he was a member of the

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

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD). He was the first

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media functions as a watchdog on media developments in all 57 participating member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He or she provides early warning on violations ...

from 1998 to 2003. He was lesser known on the German literary scene.

Life

Born in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

on 26 November 1936, Duve grew up in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. He studied history, English literature and sociology at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

. In 1961, he studied Britain's colonial history in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He was the supervisor of foreign students at the University of Hamburg in 1965. In 1966, Duve joined the

(SPD) and became a personal assistant of , the Hamburg senator for business. He campaigned for the party together with

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda ...

and

Siegfried Lenz Siegfried Lenz (; 17 March 19267 October 2014) was a German writer of novels, short stories and essays, as well as dramas for radio and the theatre. In 2000 he received the Goethe Prize on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's b ...

. He worked as a political journalist for ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

'' magazine from 1969 and as an editor for

Rowohlt Verlag Rowohlt Verlag is a German publishing house based in Hamburg, with offices in Reinbek and Berlin. It has been part of the Georg von Holtzbrinck Group since 1982. The company has been dissolved and restarted twice since its creation in 1908. Hi ...

from 1970 to 1989, responsible for a series of political books, among others. He published political writings by

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

, a manifesto against dictatorship in Portugal by

Mário Soares Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the List of Presidents of P ...

and yearbooks on human rights in Central and East Europe, among others. Duve was a member of the

for the SPD, directly elected by the

Hamburg-Mitte Hamburg-Mitte (Hamburg Central) is one of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany, covering most of the city's urban center. The quarters of Hamburg-Altstadt and Neustadt cover much of the city's historic core. In 2020 the population was 301,231. ...

electoral district, from 1980 to 1998. He was the first

until 2003, being succeeded by

Miklós Haraszti Miklós Haraszti (born 2 January 1945, Jerusalem) is a Hungarian politician, writer, journalist, human rights advocate and university professor. He served the maximum of two terms as the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media from 2004 to ...

. Duve died in Hamburg on 3 March 2020.

Publications

Duve's publications include: As author * ''Der Rassenkrieg findet nicht statt. Entwicklungspolitik zwischen Angst und Armut.'' Econ, Düsseldorf 1971, . * ''Vom Krieg in der Seele. Rücksichten eines Deutschen.'' Rowohlt, Reinbek 1998, . * ''Kulturpolitik, auswärtig''. In:

Robert Picht Robert Picht (27 September 1937 – 24 September 2008) was a German academic. Biography Son of Professor Georg Picht and his wife Edith Axenfeld, Robert Picht studied sociology and Romance studies at the universities of Munich, Frankfurt am ...

u. a. (ed.): ''Fremde Freunde. Deutsche und Franzosen vor dem 21. Jahrhundert.'' Piper, München 2002, , pp. 377–383. As editor * ''Kap ohne Hoffnung oder Die Politik der Apartheid.'' Rowohlt, Reinbek 1965.
''Zwischen Hoffen und Bangen. Südafrika im Blick westdeutscher Intellektueller der 1960er-Jahre.''
In: ', 13

016 The Home Guard Special Division 016 (; abbreviated as HV-016) is a former military unit of Norway, that was a part of the Home Guard. It was established after 1985 to "stop terror- or sabotage actions that could weaken or paralyze Norway's abili ...

pp. 360–364. * ''Die Restauration entläßt ihre Kinder oder Der Erfolg der Rechten in der Bundesrepublik.'' Rowohlt, Reinbek 1968. * ''Technologie und Politik. Das Magazin zur Wachstumskrise.'' Reinbek No. 1/1975 to No. 16/1980. * ''Aufbrüche. Die Chronik der Republik 1961 bis 1986.'' (together with ). Rowohlt, Reinbek 1988, .

Awards

Duve was presented the Hannah Arendt Award for Political Thought in 1997, together with

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany. During the P ...

. He was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

in 2004.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duve, Freimut 1936 births 2020 deaths Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe United Nations special rapporteurs Politicians from Würzburg Members of the Bundestag for Hamburg Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Members of the Bundestag 1990–1994 German officials of the United Nations Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany