Helmut Rohde

Rohde was born in Hannover on 9 November 1925.[2] His father, August, was a welder and a social democrat member of the independent trade union.[2] Helmut Rohde fought in the German army in World War II and was prisoned until 1945 when he was freed.[2]

He studied journalism following the war and graduated in 1947.[3] In 1950, he began to study politics and business in a higher education institution in Wilhelmshaven, which later became part of the University of Göttingen.[4]

In 1945, Rohde became a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).[3] After graduation he began to work as an editor at the German Press Agency's Hannover branch.[2] His pseudonym in his writings was Achilles, the name of his grandfather.[2] He served in the party's local organizations in Hannover in the 1950s[3] and later served in its "working group for workers' questions".[5] In 1957, he was elected to the Bundestag with the SPD from Hannover.[4] From 1964 to 1965 he was also a member of the European Parliament.[2]

He was appointed federal minister of education and science on 16 May 1974, replacing Klaus von Dohnanyi in the post.[6][7] He served in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Helmut Schmidt.[5] In 1975, Rohde became a member of the SPD's executive committee.[3] Rohde's cabinet post ended on 16 February 1978 and another SPD politician, Jürgen Schmude, replaced him in the post.[5][6][7] After leaving office he concentrated on his work in the SPD's working group for workers' questions.[8]

In 1985, Rohde began to work as a lecturer at Leibniz University Hannover and the University of Bochum.[4] In 1994, he was named as an honorary professor of the University of Bremen.[4]

Rohde lived in a nursing home near Bonn.[4] He died on 16 April 2016, aged 90.[1][9]