Kelly, Petra (1947–1992)

German political activist, feminist, and two-term representative to German Parliament who was a founding member of the German Green Party and the European Green Peace movement. Born Petra Karin Lehmann on November 27, 1947, in Günzburg, Bavaria, West Germany; killed by her companion at her home in Bonn, Germany, in October 1992; daughter of Richard Siegfried Lehmann and Margarete-Marianne (Birle) Lehmann (who divorced Richard Lehmann in 1954 and married U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Edward Kelly in 1958); attended Englisches Institut for Catholic girls in Günzburg (1954–59); U.S. Army base schools at Nellingen, Germany, and Fort Benning, Georgia (1959–60); Baker Junior High at Fort Benning (1960–63); graduated with honors from Hampton High, Virginia (1966); School of International Service at American University, Washington, D.C. (1966–70), B.A. cum laude in International Relations (1970); Diploma in European Integration from Europa Institute, University of Amsterdam (1971); registered for doctorate with the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Heidelberg (1972) but later abandoned doctoral research for political activism; never married; lived with Gert Bastian; no children.

Awards:

awarded scholarship and nominated Most Outstanding Foreign Woman Student at American University (1967); Alan M. Bronner Memorial Award, Bruce Howard Award, and Woodrow Wilson Scholarship (1970); Alternative Nobel Prize, Stockholm (1992); Peace Woman of the Year Award (1993).

Raised by mother and grandmother in Günzburg, Germany, until mother remarried (1958); her half-sister Grace Patricia Kelly was born (1959); family moved to U.S. and half-brother John Lee Kelly born (1960); sister Grace diagnosed with cancer of the eye (1970); while family moved to Würzburg, Germany, stayed in the U.S. to attend university; worked with Hubert Humphrey election campaign (1968); sister Grace died (1970); moved to Amsterdam, while family moved to Newport News, Virginia (1970); accorded internship with the European Commission in Brussels and research grant by the Christian Democrat Press and Information Office (1971); transferred to cabinet of Sicco Mansholt, president of European Commission, administrator to the Health and Social Policy Section of the Economic and Social Committee of the European Commission (1972–83); established Grace P. Kelly Foundation (1973); elected to board of Bundesverband Bürgerinitiativen Umweltschutz, an umbrella organization for citizens environmental action groups in Germany (1977); was co-founder of Sonstige Politische Vereinigung—Die Grünen in Frankfurt (1979); at founding conference of Die Grünen, the German Green Party, elected one of three speakers (1980); was co-organizer of International War Crimes Tribunal for possession of weapons of mass destruction (1983); elected member of German Bundestag (Parliament), member of Foreign Relations Committee (1983–87); was a representative at Western European Union (1985–87); was re-elected to Parliament (1987); served as chair of German Association for Social Defence (1988–90); organized first International and Non-Partisan Hearing on Tibet and Human Rights in Bonn (1989); lost seat in Parliament (1990); profiled as one of the 1,000 makers of the 20th century by The Sunday Times, London (1991).

Selected publications:

Fighting for Hope (London: Chatto & Windus, 1984); Hiroshima (Bornheim: Lamuv, 1986); (with Gert Bastian and Pat Aiello) The Anguish of Tibet (Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 1991); Thinking Green! Essays on Environmentalism, Feminism, and Nonviolence (Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 1995). Published and edited numerous books, collections of essays, book chapters, articles, and speeches.

Alarmed by the fact that friends and family had not heard from Petra Kelly and her companion Gert Bastian for more than three weeks, Charlotte Bastian , Gert's estranged wife, called and asked neighbors on the evening of October 18, 1992, to check the couple's residence in a suburb of Bonn. Detecting a strong odor and an entrance hall filled with yards of fax paper, the neighbors called police, who found the decomposed bodies of Gert Bastian, a former major general of the German army, and Petra Kelly, Germany's most prominent and influential advocate of peace, environmental protection, human rights, and nonviolence. Beside Bastian's body on the second floor landing of the staircase lay a gun, and in the study the electric typewriter, with an unfinished letter in it, was still humming. Bastian had broken off the letter to his lawyer, which mentions nothing about his or Kelly's impending death, in the middle of the word müs[sen] (must). Kelly's body was found in her bed; she had been shot at close range. Beside Kelly's body were her reading glasses and an open book. After a brief investigation, police concluded that Bastian had shot Kelly—probably in her sleep—and then shot himself. Police found no indication of a third-party involvement, and there was no note or letter from either Bastian or Kelly explaining their deaths.

Friends and family were stunned, and when the news was reported throughout the world the next morning, rumors began to circulate. There was talk of a double suicide and a suicide pact; however, family and friends asserted that Kelly had no inclination and no reason to commit suicide, and that it would be entirely out of character for her to agree to a suicide pact. There was no indication that Kelly had agreed to being killed. Other reports and rumors promoted conspiracy theories and suspected an assassination by the Chinese, the KGB, neo-Nazis, international gun-runners, and pro-nuclear power groups. To this day the circumstances surrounding Kelly's and Bastian's death remain a mystery, and Kelly, the charismatic environmentalist and feminist committed to nonviolent action, will be remembered not only for her unswerving dedication to peace, justice, and the environment, but also for her sudden and violent death, probably at the hands of the man she loved.

Born two years after the end of World War II in the Bavarian town of Günzburg, Petra Kelly was part of the postwar generation which grew up in the lingering shadow of Germany's past. While witnessing the so-called economic miracle, this generation—the protest generation of the '60s—began to question postwar Germany's focus upon economic growth and fought against the collective repression of the past by the German people and of past deeds by individual Germans. Kelly, who left Germany at age 11, claimed that it was only through her studies in the United States that she learned about the full extent of the Nazi crimes.

Kelly's grandmother Kunigunde Birle , a war widow, had opposed the Nazi regime and had forbidden her daughter Marianne (Kelly) , Kelly's mother, to take part in the Nazi organization for young girls. After the war, Kunigunde Birle and Marianne took in a young Pole from Dresden, Richard Siegfried Lehmann, who first worked as a journalist with the local Günzburg paper and later worked for the American occupational forces. Marianne and Richard married in May 1947, and in November Petra was born. When Petra was six years old, Lehmann left, and Petra's parents divorced in 1954. Lehmann, who played no further role in Petra's life, wrote his daughter only one letter, in 1985. By this time Kelly had become famous, and apparently Lehmann felt that he was being portrayed unfairly in articles and television shows about Kelly. Despite Kelly's willingness to meet him, an encounter did not take place and nothing further was heard from Lehmann.

After her husband left in 1953, Marianne Lehmann supported herself and her daughter by working for the Americans. Raising Petra was left mainly to the grandmother, a strong and energetic woman, who nurtured Petra emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. By the time Petra started school in 1954, she could read and write and had discovered the profound pleasure in learning that stayed with her. Despite her illness caused by painful episodes of urinary tract infections and kidney stones and the first of three kidney operations, Petra was an exceptional student at the Catholic girls' school, where she learned the importance of discipline and hard work. Kelly wanted to become a nun and live and work in Günzburg where she could stay close to Omi, as she lovingly called her grandmother. Kunigunde Birle remained a central force in Petra's life; she supported Kelly's political endeavors, traveled with her to rallies, and allowed her apartment to be turned into Kelly's first campaign office. In the 1980s, Birle was well-known in Germany as the "green granny."

Petra, however, could not stay in Günzburg. Her departure was imminent when her mother married John Edward Kelly, an American lieutenant-colonel in the Engineering Corps in 1958. Although John Kelly never formally adopted Petra, because Petra wanted to keep her German citizenship, he became a good stepfather and friend, and Petra took his name. The family moved to a base in Nellingen near Stuttgart where Kelly's half sister, Grace Patricia Kelly , was born in May of 1959. In December, the family moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, and in 1960, Petra's half-brother, John Lee Kelly, was born. Petra quickly learned English and was once again at the head of her class at Baker Junior High School. She was "top scholar" in her final year, sat on junior class councils and organizing committees, wrote for the school newspaper, and was a cheerleader for the football team. She continued

with similar activities at Hampton High, Virginia, where she graduated with honors in 1966. Kelly won oratory contests, was nominated class poet, and Most Likely to Succeed.

In autumn 1966, Kelly began her studies at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C. She continued to have close ties to her family, who often attended her class presentations. In 1967, Grace was diagnosed with eye cancer. At her sister's request, Petra wrote to the Vatican asking for an audience with the pope, and the Kelly family traveled to Rome in 1968 to fulfill Grace's wish. That same summer, Kelly took a trip to Prague with her grandmother and experienced first hand the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet forces while under house arrest in their hotel. From the hotel window, Petra and Kunigunde witnessed the end of the so-called "Prague Spring," the Czech attempt of democratization and emancipation from the Soviet Union. After five days, they were allowed to leave Czechoslovakia, and Kelly was deeply impressed by the passive, nonviolent resistance of the Czechs.

In 1970, Grace died after four operations and radiation treatments that had left her disfigured. Her suffering and courage throughout her illness had a profound influence upon Kelly's life and work. Petra later labored tirelessly on behalf of children with cancer: she collaborated on a report on children and cancer for the European Commission, established in 1973 the Grace P. Kelly Foundation—a charity to support cancer research and adequate care for children with cancer. She wrote a book about children and cancer entitled Viel Liebe gegen Schmerz: Krebs bei Kindern (Love can Conquer Sorrow: Cancer in Children) published in 1986, the same year in which she pushed through a bill in German Parliament allocating two million marks for research into facilities for children with cancer. In 1971, Kelly began sponsoring a Tibetan refugee orphan, a girl of Grace's age.

In 1970, Petra had graduated from American University cum laude with a Bachelor's of Arts in International Relations. While there, she organized International Week, was on the student senate, and met and corresponded with Robert F. Kennedy and Vice President Hubert Humphrey. In 1968, she coordinated the Students for Kennedy group and, after John F. Kennedy's assassination, joined Humphrey's campaign. Apparently Humphrey appreciated Kelly's honesty and directness; she was able to provide him with a more European view of the United States while acting as a sounding board for his attempt to appeal to the younger generation. Humphrey won the Democratic nomination but failed in the presidential race against Richard Nixon. The failed campaign gave Petra insight into both the cruelty and exhilaration of political campaigning.

In autumn 1970, Kelly enrolled at the Europa Institute at the University of Amsterdam and began a research project entitled "The Development and Influence of Private European Organizations which have Promoted European Integration and Unity." In 1971, she was awarded a diploma in European Integration by the Institute. At this time, she became increasingly critical about the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church but did not formally leave the church until 1980. Despite her doubts, Kelly never lost interest in questions of faith and remained deeply spiritual. For Kelly, politics needed spirituality. The profound political changes essential to healing the planet, wrote Kelly, would not come about through fragmented problem solving or intellectual analysis, but rather through a holistic vision based upon mature values, deep intuitions, and a regard for spiritual concerns and wisdom. Kelly's models were Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. She was interested in Buddhism and befriended the Dalai Lama, with whom she traveled and appeared in public on several occasions. Her female model of a revolutionary was Rosa Luxemburg .

In October 1971, Kelly began a six-month internship at the General Secretariat of the European Commission in Brussels, where she was assigned to the cabinet of Altiero Spinelli, the commissioner for industrial, technological, and scientific policy. Kelly received a stipend from the conservative Christian Democrat Press and Information Office which was to fund her research for one year. In 1972, she registered her doctoral thesis at the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Heidelberg and returned to Brussels to take up a new post at the male-dominated European Commission as administrator to the Economic and Social Committee, where she began to adopt strong feminist positions. Petra wanted to make women's rights one of the priorities of European institutions and insisted that "women's issues" should be dealt with by both men and women. Kelly saw a relationship between militarism, environmental degradation, and sexism, and advocated non-violent resistance to male dominance. For Kelly, it was not a question of overthrowing patriarchy and replacing it with a system of female dominance; she called for the cooperation of men and women in the transformation of patriarchal patterns.

In her research, Kelly discovered that the European Community tended to favor, with its financial support, conservative organizations of industry and finance while largely ignoring action-minded, more left-oriented groups. Kelly's findings prompted the Christian Democratic Press and Information Office to suspend support for her research. Nevertheless, she continued traveling throughout Europe to speak to organizations concerned with European integration. She was interested in finding ways to engage ordinary citizens in the process of Europeanization.

Having lost the funding for her research, Kelly moved in late 1972 to the cabinet of 64-year-old Sicco Mansholt, president of the commission, with whom she had a brief affair. "Lover lets beloved be free," Kelly noted after the affair ended. She no longer pursued her doctoral dissertation and became increasingly involved in politics. She was active in the German Social Democratic Party, the Young European Federalists, and the developing citizen's movements in Germany, especially the anti-nuclear movement. In close contact with the anti-nuclear movement in the United States, she worked with numerous organizations advocating non-violence, ecology, feminism, and a new kind of grass-roots European federalism. She was involved with the Irish anti-nuclear movement and befriended the Irish trade unionist John Carroll, with whom she coedited A Nuclear Ireland?

In 1977, Kelly traveled to Australia, where she attended a Hiroshima Day Rally and visited several Aboriginal groups. Toward the end of the 1970s, she lead two busy lives: one in Brussels at her full-time job at the European Commission and one in Germany campaigning for her political causes. She organized rallies, wrote countless articles, gave innumerable speeches, and attempted to forge associations between the grass-roots, anti-nuclear, and environmental groups in Germany. This was achieved in 1972 with the formation of the Bundesverband Bürgerinitiativen Umweltschutz, an umbrella organization for citizens' environmental action groups; Kelly became one of its first board members.

Disillusioned by the unwillingness of the German government to take seriously the demands of these grass-roots organizations and dismayed by the disarray of the movement, several activists—among them famous artists and writers such as Joseph Beuys and Heinrich Böll—began considering the formation of a new political party. In March 1979, the Sonstige Politische Vereinigung-Die Grünen (Alternative Political Alliance—the Greens) was founded, and Petra was elected to be one of the candidates running for the first direct elections to the European Parliament. The Alliance failed to win seats but had become a formidable political entity with seats in the regional governments. On January 12–13, 1980, the informal Alliance turned into a formal political party, Die Grünen (the Greens). Its new members agreed upon the "four pillars" of the Green Party: ecology, social responsibility, grassroots-democracy, and non-violence. From March 1980 to November 1982, Kelly was one of three speakers of the Green Party. In the 1983 federal elections, the Green Party received 5.4% of the votes and won 27 seats in the German Parliament. Elected a member of Parliament, Petra was finally able to give up her job in Brussels. She became a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and one of three speakers of the Green Party's parliamentary group. During her first two years in Parliament, Kelly continued to organize and participate in anti-nuclear protests, won the Peace Woman of the Year Award, served as representative on the board of the Western European Union, met with East German dissidents and with Erich Honecker, the former head of state of East Germany, and tried unsuccessfully to block the Parliament's vote to accept U.S. nuclear missiles on German ground. During this time, the Green Party became increasingly influential in German politics and succeeded in their 1984 run for the European Parliament.

Patriarchal power has brought us acid rain, global warming, military states, and countless cases of private suffering.

—Petra Kelly

The estrangement between Kelly and the Green Party began when, according to party rules, Kelly was to hand over her parliamentary seat to her successor in 1985. Although Members of Parliament are elected to a four-year term, the Green Party had decided to rotate its members every two years. Kelly refused to give up her seat, and the party abolished the two-year rotation principle in 1986. However, because of her refusal to rotate, Kelly became isolated within her own party and turned for support more than ever to Gert Bastian, whom she had first met in 1980, shortly after Bastian, a major general, had resigned from the German army in protest against the deployment of nuclear missiles in Germany. Bastian had become Kelly's companion in 1982; he also became a member of the Green Party and a fellow member of Parliament, from which he resigned in 1984 before the end of his term. Kelly and Bastian were inseparable, appearing everywhere together, and became in the eyes of their friends and acquaintances, as one writer noted, "Petraandgert."

In 1987, Kelly was re-elected to Parliament and continued advocating her causes. She also continued publishing books and articles and successfully drafted a bill on human rights in Tibet, which Parliament supported unanimously. In 1987, she participated in the Moscow Peace Forum, where she met with the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov and the Soviet head of state, Mikhail Gorbachev. From 1988 to 1990, she served as chair of the German Association of Social Defense, and in 1989 she organized the first International and Non-Partisan Hearing on Tibet and Human Rights.

In the first federal elections after German unification in 1990, the Green Party (West) won no seats in Parliament. Because of her opposition to forming coalitions with other parties, Kelly became even more isolated within her own party, and it was a shock to many when she received only 39 out of 646 votes in the 1991 election for party speaker. Having lost the resources available to Members of Parliament, Kelly began searching for opportunities to continue her work. In 1992, she began moderating a series of environmental programs for a German cable television station. The series was not successful and disputes between Kelly and the producers led to its cancellation. Kelly's last public appearances were in September 1992 at the World Uranium Hearing in Salzburg and the Global Radiation Victims' Conference in Berlin. On September 26, 1992, Kelly and Bastian met with a publisher and a Buddhist teacher and writer. Neither these two men nor the people who had attended the Salzburg and Berlin conferences had detected anything strange or amiss with either Kelly or Bastian. Their presence, they stated, was overwhelmingly forward looking, courageous and life-affirming, and nobody could believe that a few days later the nice elderly gentleman would kill Petra Kelly.

sources:

Kolinsky, Eva, ed. The Greens in West Germany. Oxford: Berg, 1989.

Parkin, Sara. The Life and Death of Petra Kelly. London: Pandora, 1994.

suggested reading:

Kelly, Petra K. Thinking Green: Essays on Environmentalism, Feminism, and Nonviolence. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 1994.

collections:

Correspondence, manuscripts, and memorabilia are located at the Petra Kelly Archiv at Archiv Grünes Gedächtnis, Romerstrasse 71, 53332 Bornheim-Widdig, Germany.

Karin Bauer , Assistant Professor of German Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada