COMUNICATION

The former minister, who took office as an academic in 2000, died at the age of 91

The Board of Trustees, the Academy and the staff of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation regret the death of the German researcher and politician Ursula Lehr, who took office as a member of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste in 2000, occupying the Marie Curie Chair. (26/04/2022)

Lehr studied Psychology, Philosophy and Art History. She was full professor of Education and Psychology at the University of Cologne and Psychology professor at the University of Bonn. In 1986 she accepted the first German chair of gerontology and scientific study of aging at the University of Heidelberg. She has been considered a source of inspiration for German university professors in this field, as she fostered a new perspective on human aging. She, furthermore, contributed to the creation of gerontological organisations and their transmission to political practice.

In the political arena, Ursula Lehr was part of the CDU since 1986. As a member of the German parliament, her work on women’s employment and the impact on their health, and the productivity of older workers stood out, which led to her being appointed Minister for Family Affairs and Health in 1988 during the term of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, 2006 Carlos V European Award.

Ursula Lehr and Yuste

Ursula Lehr was the first woman to join the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste. She participated actively in the various activities organised by the Foundation on geriatrics, ageing and social Europe. She thus gave lectures and talks at numerous congresses, seminars and courses. Her attendance at the series of conferences “Social Problems of Our Time: Society and Ageing”, which was held in Badajoz in October 2002, is worthy of mention; days later, she gave the keynote address “Ageing Before the New Millennium” within the framework of the congress “Social intervention in the face of the challenges of the 21st century’”, which was held in Cáceres. She also attended other seminars organised by the Foundation in Salamanca, Mérida, Seville and the Monastery of Yuste.

She was part of the jury of the Carlos V European Award in several editions – she attended the award ceremony where the prize was delivered to the former German ancestor Helmut Kohl in 2006 and Javier Solana in 2011 – and was involved in the awarding of the Carlos V Award-European Research and Mobility Grants for European Studies European. Her prolific contribution to Yuste Foundation and the Academy is completed with several articles for the magazine Pliegos de Yuste, for the book collection “Cuadernos de Yuste” and for the book El futuro de Europa: la Europa social y de los ciudadanos. Some of these articles are: “Los efectos sociales de la competencia en el marco de la globalización”; “The United Europe – A Challenge for the Individual and the Societies”, and “Altern in Europa im 21. Jahrhundert: Eine Herausforderung für das Individuum un die Gesellschaft”.

Ursula Lehr participated in all the Declarations of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste: “Europe: A Culture for Solidarity”; “Europe and the Issue of Aging”; “Perspectives for a Citizens’ and Social Europe”; and “What All European Schoolchildren Should Learn About Europe”, attending face-to-face meetings held in Yuste in 2004 and 2006. She also played a leading role in the 2nd Declaration of Yuste on Geriatric Education in the European Union, which resulted from the 2nd International Symposium on Geriatric Education and the meeting of the Geriatric Medicine Society of the European Union.