Thomas de Maizière

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Thomas de Maizière [də mɛˈzjɛʀ] (born January 21, 1954 in Bonn) is a German conservative politician (CDU).

After studies of law and history at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster and in Freiburg im Breisgau, he passed his first state examination in law in 1979 and his second 1982, earning his doctorate of law (Dr. jur.) in 1986. He worked for the Governing Mayor of Berlin (Freiherr Richard von Weizsäcker and Eberhard Diepgen), before he was part of the West German delegation to the negotiation of German reunification. After 1990 he worked with reestablishing democratic structures in states that were part of the former German Democratic Republic. From 2001 to 2002 he served as Minister of Finance of Saxony, from 2002 to 2004 Minister of Justice, and from 2004 to 2005 Minister of the Interior. On October 17, 2005, he was nominated for membership of the Federal Government, as Chief of the Chancellor's Office and Federal Minister of Special Affairs in the cabinet of Angela Merkel. He took office on November 22, 2005 after Merkel's election by the Bundestag.

He belongs to a noble family who, as Huguenots, had fled France for asylum in Prussia in the late 17th century. The Maizière family still attended French-language schools and Huguenot churches in Berlin until the beginning of the 20th century. He is a son of Ulrich de Maizière, Inspector General of the German Armed Forces. His cousin Lothar de Maizière is also a CDU politician, who was the last and only democratically elected Premier of the German Democratic Republic, and later served as Federal Minister of Special Affairs in the Kohl government. Thomas de Maizière is married to Martina de Maizière and has three children.

Thomas de Maizière is an old political friend of Merkel, the current Chancellor of Germany and his superior.