Lina Maria Becker (22 March 1898 – 1976) was a German Communist Party politician. Between 1924 and 1927 she was a member of the Hamburg Parliament (''"Hamburgische Bürgerschaft"'').

Life

Lina Maria Becker was born into a working class socialist family in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. After 1918, like her brothers (1894–1942) and Ernst Becker (1900–1932) she joined the newly emerging Communist Party and became politically active in the

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 ...

region. Between 1924 and 1927 she sat as a Communist member of the Hamburg Parliament. At some stage she married

Emil Unfried Emil Unfried (21 April 1892 – 16 June 1949) was a German communist politician. He served in various capacities in the Communist Party until 1924. Later he was involved in the film industry. He resumed his political activity in the Communist Pa ...

(1892–1949), another Communist Party member during the years following the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and later a successful film maker. Like her brothers and her husband, Lina Maria Becker belonged to the relatively moderate right wing of the Communist Party during a decade when the party was increasingly controlled by hard left pro-

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

leadership. Emil Unfried lost his party membership in 1924, and by the end of the decade his wife had also ceased to be politically active, although there is mention of her having been critical of the German Communist Party leadership in the early 1930s. Lina Maria Becker-Unfried was widowed in 1949 when her husband died in the

NKVD special camp Nr. 7 NKVD special camp Nr. 7 was a NKVD special camp that operated in until August 1945 and in Sachsenhausen (Oranienburg), Sachsenhausen from August 1945 until the spring of 1950. It was used by the Soviet occupation zone, Soviet occupying forces t ...

. Despite having rejoined the Communist Party in 1945 he had been denounced to and arrested by the occupying forces who were by that time running the camp. His widow died in 1976, continuing to shun political involvement until her death. By the time she died she was living in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, able to live comfortably because of profits remaining from her husband's cinema ownership.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Lina Maria 1898 births 1976 deaths Members of the Hamburg Parliament Communist Party of Germany politicians Politicians from Hanover 20th-century German women politicians