Loki Schmidt (†91) ist tot (heute journal & tagesthemen)

Loki Schmidt died last night at her home in Hamburg-Langenhorn... Germany mourns a woman who always spoke her mind. Germany mourns a woman who, above all, remained true to herself—always! The wife of former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (91) was unable to recover from a serious fall in which she broke her right ankle. Hannelore "Loki" Schmidt, née Glaser, (born March 3, 1919, in Hamburg; died on the night of October 21, 2010, in Hamburg-Langenhorn) was a German botanist, conservationist, writer, and the wife of former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Loki Schmidt was the daughter of a shipyard worker and grew up in poverty. After graduating from the Lichtwark School in Hamburg in 1937, where Erna Stahl was her German teacher, Loki Schmidt studied pedagogy to become a primary school teacher. From 1940 to 1974, she worked as a teacher at elementary and secondary schools in Hamburg. On June 27, 1942, she married Helmut Schmidt. The couple had two children. Their son, Helmut Walter (born June 26, 1944), died before his first birthday on February 19, 1945, in Bernau, likely from meningitis. Their daughter, Susanne, was born in 1947; she now works for the business television channel Bloomberg Television in London. Loki Schmidt also suffered several miscarriages. Between 1974 and 1982, she performed ceremonial duties as the wife of the Federal Chancellor. In 1976, Loki Schmidt founded the Foundation for the Protection of Endangered Plants. This foundation merged with the Hamburg Nature Conservation Foundation (founded in 1985/1986 with significant involvement from the then-President of the Hamburg Environmental Authority and current Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Trustees, Senator a.D. Wolfgang Curilla) to form the Hamburg Nature Conservation Foundation and the Loki Schmidt Foundation. On her 80th birthday, Loki Schmidt received the title of professor from the University of Hamburg for her contributions to plant and nature conservation. She also received honorary doctorates from the Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg and the University of Hamburg. On her 90th birthday, 90 "Loki Schmidt Beds" were created throughout Germany. The bromeliads Puya lokischmidtiae and Pitcairnia lokiae, as well as the scorpion Tityus lokiae, are named after her. Loki Schmidt died on the night of October 21, 2010, at her home in the Langenhorn district of Hamburg.