A German statesman who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 (of West Germany 1982–1990 and of the reunited Germany 1990–1998) and as the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. From 1969 to 1976, Kohl was minister president of the state Rhineland-Palatinate. Kohl chaired the Group of Seven in 1985 and 1992.
Kohl was born in Ludwigshafen to a Roman Catholic family, and joined the Christian Democratic Union in 1946 at the age of 16. He earned a PhD in history in 1958 and worked as a business executive before becoming a full-time politician. He was elected as the youngest member of the Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1959 and became Minister-President of his home state in 1969. Viewed during the 1960s and the early 1970s as a progressive within the CDU, he was elected national chairman of the party in 1973. In the 1976 federal election his party performed well, but the government of social democrat Helmut Schmidt was able to remain in power. In 1982 Kohl was elected Chancellor after the liberal Free Democratic Party had switched sides to support the CDU. After he became party leader, Kohl was increasingly seen as a more conservative figure
Kohl was described as "the greatest European leader of the second half of the 20th century" by U.S. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Kohl received the Charlemagne Prize in 1988 with François Mitterrand; in 1998 Kohl became the second person to be named Honorary Citizen of Europe by the European heads of state or government. Following his death, Kohl will be honored with the first ever European Act of State, to take place in Strasbourg.

Source: Wikipedia