Dr. Theo Waigel was the German Minister of Finance from 1989 until September 1998. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 1972 and has played an instrumental role in fiscal politics and in stabilising the Euro pact.
He is known as the father of the Euro. He proposed the name of the currency in 1995, and played a vital role in its introduction as German Minister of Finance.
Dr. Waigel is a lawyer, and earned a doctorate in 1967. Dr. Waigel was born in 1939 and studied law at the Universities of Munich and Würzburg. He has been a Member of the CSU (Christian Social Union) since 1960.
In 2009, he was appointed Honorary Chairman of the CSU.
He was member of the Bavarian Ministries of Finance and of Economics and Transport from 1967 till 1972.
Nominated Chairman of the CSU Land (Bavarian) Group in the Bundestag in 1982 Dr. Theodor Waigel was appointed Chairman of CSU in 1988.
In 1989 he became Minister of Finance.
He is Board-member of several corporations including the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg, The International Monetary Fund in Washington and the “Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau” in Frankfurt Am Main. He is Member of the University of Augsburg and various other institutions and organisations.
Dr. Theodor Waigel has been decorated with the “Bayrischer Verdienstorden” (Order of the State of Bavaria).