Helmut Kohl

In 1960, he tied the nuptial knot with long-time friend Hannelore Renner. The couple was blessed with two sons. Hannelore committed suicide in 2001 after suffering from photodermatitis for many years.

In February 2008, he had a stroke and a fall and since then he was bound to a wheelchair due to partial paralysis.

He married his partner Maike Richter on 8 May 2008.

Helmut Kohl was born in a Roman Catholic family to Hans Kohl and Cacilie in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany. He was the third child of the couple.

Academically, he attained his preliminary education from Ruprecht Elmentary School, after which he enrolled at the Max-Planck Gymnasium. Meanwhile, he joined the Christian Democratic Union in 1946 and was one of the co-founders of the Junge Union-branch in Ludwigshafen in 1947.

Upon completing his graduation in 1950, he began studying law in Frankfurt am Main. Following year, he shifted to the University of Heidelberg, majoring in History and Political Science. It was during his years at the university that he joined the board of the Rhineland-Palatinate branch of CDU.

Finishing his studies, he became a fellow at the Alfred Weber Institute of the University of Heidelberg and was an active member of the AIESEC student society. He completed his doctoral studies in 1958.

His first job was as an assistant to the director of a foundry in Ludwigshafen. A year later, he served as the manager for the Industrial Union for Chemistry in Ludwigshafen.

His political career kick started when he was elected as the leader of the CDU party in the municipal council of Ludwigshafen in 1960, a position he retained until 1969. Meanwhile, he was also elected as the Landtag and served as leader of the CDU party in that legislature.

From 1966 until 1973, he took up the chair of the CDU's state branch. Over time, he developed a reputation as a capable administrator and soon was deemed as a successor to Peter Altmeier, then minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate.

He succeeded Altmeier in 1969. Same year, he became the vice chairman of the federal CDU party. During his term as the minister-president, he brought about territorial reform and founded the University of Trier Kaiserslautern.

By 1973, he succeeded Rainer Barzel as the chairman of the federal CDU and retained this position until 1998.

In the 1976 federal elections, Kohl was the chancellor candidate of the CDU and the the Christian Social Union (CSU) alliance but lost to Social Democratic Party (SDP).

He served as the Chancellor of West Germany from 1982 to 1990. Furthermore, he played an extraordinary role in in German reunification and laying the foundation for a lasting democratic peace between the two parts. He also served as the first Chancellor of unified Germany and served in the position from 1990 to 1998