Oskar Lafontaine, Date of Birth, Place of Birth

Oskar Lafontaine

German politician

Date of Birth: 16-Sep-1943

Place of Birth: Saarlouis, Saarland, Germany

Profession: politician, physicist, opinion journalist, peace activist

Nationality: Germany

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Oskar Lafontaine (German pronunciation: ['laf?nt?n]; born 16 September 1943) is a German politician who served in the government of Germany as Minister of Finance from 1998 to 1999.
Previously he was Minister President of the state of Saarland from 1985 to 1998, and he was also Chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 1995 to 1999.
After having won the 1998 German federal election along with new Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, he resigned from all political offices, including his seat in the German Bundestag, only a half year later and positioned himself as a popular opponent of Schröder's policies in the tabloid press. In the forefront of the federal election, 2005 and as a reaction to Schröder's Agenda 2010 social reforms, Lafontaine joined the newly founded party Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative in June 2005.
Following the merger with the Party of Democratic Socialism in June 2007, he became co-chairman of The Left.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, he announced his resignation from federal political functions in January 2010, citing health reasons.
Having been cured from it, he has instead been member of parliament for The Left in Saarland since September 2009 and leader of the opposition since May 2012.