Hans Modrow

Hans Modrow
Modrow in 1989
Chairman of the Council of Ministers
In office 13 November 1989 – 12 April 1990
Head of state	Egon Krenz Manfred Gerlach Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (interim)
Deputy	Christa Luft Peter Moreth Lothar de Maizière
Preceded by	Willi Stoph
Succeeded by	Lothar de Maizière (as Minister-President)
First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party in Bezirk Dresden
In office 3 October 1973 – 15 November 1989
Second Secretary	Lothar Stammnitz
Preceded by	Werner Krolikowski
Succeeded by	Hansjoachim Hahn
Head of the Agitation Department of the Central Committee
In office 19 June 1971 – 2 October 1973
Secretary	Werner Lamberz
Deputy	Herbert Malcherek Günter Fischer Eberhard Fensch Hans-Joachim Kobert
Preceded by	Werner Lamberz
Succeeded by	Heinz Geggel
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the European Parliament for Germany In office 20 July 1999 – 20 July 2004 Preceded by Multi-member district Succeeded by Multi-member district Member of the Bundestag for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern In office 3 October 1990 – 10 November 1994 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Multi-member district Member of the Volkskammer In office 5 April 1990 – 2 October 1990 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Constituency abolished Constituency Neubrandenburg In office 11 December 1957 – 5 April 1990 Preceded by Karl-Heinz Kniestedt Succeeded by Constituency abolished Constituency Dresden-Süd, Dresden-West, Dresden-Mitte (1976–1990) Berlin (1957–1976)
Personal details
Born	(1928-01-27)27 January 1928 Jasenitz, Pomerania, Germany
Died	10 February 2023(2023-02-10) (aged 95) Berlin, Germany
Party	SED (1949–1989) PDS (1989–2007) Die Linke (2007–2023)
Spouse	Annemarie Straubing ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	2
Alma mater	Party Academy Karl Marx Hochschule für Ökonomie Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin (Dr. rer. oec.)
Occupation	Economist locksmith politician
Central institution membership 1989: Full member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1967–1989: Full member, Central Committee 1958–1967: Candidate member, Central Committee Other offices held 1967–1973: Secretary for Agitation and Propaganda, Socialist Unity Party in Berlin 1961–1967: First Secretary, Socialist Unity Party in Berlin-Köpenick 1958: Chairman, Free German Youth in the Volkskammer 1953–1961: First Secretary, Free German Youth in Berlin
De facto leader of the GDR ← Krenz (Last officeholder)→

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Hans Modrow (German pronunciation: [ˈhans ˈmoːdʁo]; 27 January 1928 – 10 February 2023) was a German politician best known as the last communist premier of East Germany.

Coming into office amidst the Peaceful Revolution, he was the de facto leader of East Germany through the winter of 1989–90. He presided over a transitional government, paving the way to the first and only free elections in East Germany. His cabinet was the last over which the Socialist Unity Party (SED) presided, as well as the first to include opposition members.

After the end of Communist rule and reunification of Germany, he was convicted of electoral fraud and perjury by the Dresden District Court in 1995, on the basis that he had been the SED official nominally in charge of the electoral process. He was later convicted of the first charge and was given a nine-month suspended sentence. He was one of the few high-ranking former SED officials retained by its successor, the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), of which he became honorary chairman. He was the president of the "council of elders" of the PDS' successor, the Left Party, from 2007.