Rita Süssmuth

Rita Süssmuth, born Rita Kickuth in 1937 in Wuppertal, Germany, was a German politician, sociologist, psychologist, and university teacher. She was a member of the Christian Democratic Union and served as a member of the German Bundestag and as President of the Bundestag. Her professional career included teaching at the Technical University of Dortmund and Ruhr University Bochum. She was educated at the University of Tübingen and the University of Münster.

Süssmuth worked in Bonn and Neuss, where she died in 2026. She participated in the 1999 German presidential election. Her awards include the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Bambi Award, and the Order of Merit of Brandenburg. She spoke German and French, with German as her native language. She had one child.