Maria Klein-Schmeink
Klein-Schmeink in 2014
Member of the Bundestag
Incumbent
Assumed office 2017
Personal details
Born	(1958-01-06) 6 January 1958 (age 66) Hamminkeln, West Germany (now Germany)
Political party	Greens
Children	1
Alma mater	University of Münster

Maria Anna Klein-Schmeink (born 6 January 1958) is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2009.^[1]

Early life and career

Klein-Schmeink studied sociology at the University of Münster from 1977 to 1984 and graduated with a master's degree. While still a student, she began working as a volunteer for the Sozialpädagogisches Bildungswerk Münster (Sobi).

After completing her studies until 2002, Klein-Schmeink worked full-time in a leading position for the Sobi. From 1986 to 1988 she was involved in the establishment of the institution "cultur- und begegnungszentrum achtermannstraße" (c.u.b.a.). From 2002 until she moved to the German Bundestag in 2009, she worked as a legislative advisor to the Green Party's group in the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Political career

In parliament, Klein-Schmeink is a member of the Committee on Health. Since 2014 she has been serving as her parliamentary group's spokesperson on health policy.^[2][3] In 2020, she succeeded Katja Dörner as one her parliamentary group's deputy chairs, under the leadership of co-chairs Katrin Göring-Eckardt and Anton Hofreiter.^[4]

In addition to her committee assignments, Klein-Schmeink is part of the German-Austrian Parliamentary Friendship Group.^[5]

In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Green Party and the FDP following the 2021 federal elections, Klein-Schmeink led her party's delegation in the working group on health policy; her co-chairs from the other parties were Katja Pähle and Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus.^[6]

In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst following the 2022 state elections, Klein-Schmeink was part of her party’s delegation.^[7]