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Susie Miller Dies

Sadly Susie Miller one of our current scholars and a founder member of the movement died a few weeks after her 93rd birthday. She was born in 1915.

The funeral was attended by about 200 people and the ceremony was memorable and dignified.  Susie's coffin was laid to rest in the same grave as Willi Eichler - this was her wish.  Thomas Meyer and the SPD woman mayor of Bonn were the two speakers.  The PPA was represented by Thomas Meyer, Dieter Krohn, Barbara Neisser, Helmut Mueller and Sabine Lemke-Mueller, and SFCP / PPA by Rene Saran. 

Luckily the weather was good as the many mourners followed the coffin to the grave.  Each person was given the opportunity to throw a flower into the grave before people dispersed.  For this red carnations were distributed as one approached the grave.  There was a reception at the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Bonn afterwards. At the Reception copies of Susie's autobiographical sketches were available for taking away.

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Susie Miller (right) with Rene Saran

Susanne Miller

Susie Miller was born in 1915 and was a member of the political party founded by the German philosopher, Leonard Nelson, the Militant International Socialist League (the ISK) whilst she was a refugee in London during the second world War.

She later became an assistant to Willi Eichler of the German Social Democratic party (the SPD) from 1952-1960. She also worked as an employee of the SPD Executive.

In 1963 she was awarded her Doctorate at the University of Bonn in political science, history, and education. Between 1963 and 1978 Susie was scientific researcher for the German Commission on the History of Parliament and the Political Parties in Bonn.

After this she was occupied with voluntary work for various organisations in political education and an active member of the Philosophical Political Academy in Germany. The PPA was also founded by Nelson, and she was it's Chairperson between 1982 and 1990. Susie was also the author of a number of books and articles on the history of the German social democratic movement.

It is worth our while to talk about the most important things, about how we ought to live

(Rene Saran and Barbara Neisser, 2004, Enquiring Minds, Published by Trentham Books, p123)

"Even as wisdom often comes from the mouths of babes, so does it often come from the mouths of old people. The golden rule is to test everything in the light of reason and experience, no matter from where it comes. "

Mahatma Gandhi