ENGHOLM, BJRN

born Nov. 9, 1939, Lbeck, Ger. German politician who became the leader of the Social Democratic Party in 1991. Of Swedish descent, Engholm was educated at the University of Hamburg and worked as a printer before becoming a freelance journalist and lecturer in 1964. He had joined the Social Democratic Party in 1962, and he was first elected to the National Assembly (Bundestag) in 1969, winning reelection successively thereafter. In 198182 he was minister of education and science in the government of his mentor, the Social Democratic leader Helmut Schmidt. After the Schmidt government fell from power in 1982, Engholm ran unsuccessfully for prime minister of his home state of Schleswig-Holstein in 1983 and 1987 before winning a second, special election to that post late in 1987. In 1990 Engholm was chosen to succeed Hans-Jochen Vogel as chairman of the Social Democratic Party, and his appointment as its leader was confirmed in a party conference in 1991.