Dr Gregor Gysi was born on 16 January 1948 in Berlin. He trained as a specialist in cattle breeding before studying law and graduating from Berlin’s Humboldt University. He has practised as a licensed attorney since 1971.
Dr Gysi held the post of chairman of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) from the end of 1989 until January 1992. He was a member of parliament in the Volkskammer (People’s Chamber) of the German Democratic Republic from March until October 1990 and leader of the PDS parliamentary group.
From late 1990 until autumn 2002, he was a directly elected member of the German Bundestag and leader of the PDS parliamentary group. Dr Gysi was elected Senator for Economics, Labour and Women’s Issues and Mayor of Berlin in January 2002, an office he held until July of the same year. He subsequently practised law and worked as a publicist.
Dr Gysi has been a directly elected member of the German Bundestag for the Berlin constituency of Treptow-Köpenick since October 2005 and leads the parliamentary group of his party Die Linke (The Left). He is divorced and has two sons and a daughter.