Georgine Kellermann

Georgine Kellermann (born Georg Kellermann,[1] 21 September 1957) is a German journalist.

Biography

Career

Georgine Kellermann was born in Ratingen, North Rhine-Westphalia. From 1969 until 1978, she attended the Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium (now Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Gymnasium)[2] secondary school in Ratingen, already writing for the local editorial office of the Rheinische Post before her graduation. In 1983, shortly after the WDR had started airing its evening program "Current Hour", Kellermann applied there and became regional correspondent for Duisburg and the Lower Rhine. The final industrial actions of steel workers in Duisburg-Rheinhausen were one of her biggest topics of coverage during this time.[3]

In 1992, Kellermann joined the newly aired ARD morning show as a producer, and as a correspondent from Paris and Washington, D.C.[3] Her work there would cause a move to Washington in 1997, as a permanent correspondent for the ARD. She then took up residence in Paris beginning in 2002 until 2006 when she began management of the ARD studio in Bonn.[3] Thereafter, Kellermann would take on further leadership positions, first at the WDR studio in Duisburg[3] in 2014, and then at the WDR studio in Essen[1] in 2019.

Coming out

Kellermann had been out as transgender in her private life for a significant amount of time,[4] including coming out to her father in the mid 1980s.[5] Amongst her friends and family she presented femininely,[6] yet in her capacity on television, she continued to play the part of a man. Kellermann has often voiced her frustrations regarding this in interviews, citing her fear of not being taken seriously by the public and not being accepted in her workplace as the main reasons for delaying her public coming out.[7] While visiting the United States in 2019, she finally made the decision to make her gender identity publicly known through changing her profile pictures on social media and discussing it with her colleagues upon returning to Germany.[5] She is now listed as "Studio lead Georgine Kellermann" by the WDR.[8]

In 2020, Kellermann announced that she had gained legal recognition of her identity as a woman.[9][10]

Awards

1999: Radio, TV, and New Media Prize together with Tom Buhrow, Claus Kleber and Sabine Reifenberg for Oh Gott, Amerika! Glaube, Seelen, Scharlatane, a TV program about Evangelicals, travelling preachers and sectarians in the US[11]

References
  1. "Georg Kellermann wird neuer Leiter des WDR-Studios in Essen". presseportal.de (in German). Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  2. "Stadt Ratingen – Baufeld für Neubau am Innenstadtgymnasium wird freigemacht". www.stadt-ratingen.de. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  3. Nickel, Samuela. "Pionierin (neues deutschland)". www.neues-deutschland.de (in German). Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  4. "Georgine Kellermann: "Es brach ein Candystorm über mich herein"". Die Zeit. Retrieved 23 April 2021(In German, behind paywall){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  5. Erbersdobler, Julian. ""Ich hatte Sorge, dass man über mich lacht"". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  6. "Transsexuelle WDR-Studioleiterin Georgine Kellermann ist jetzt offiziell eine Frau". www.rnd.de (in German). Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  7. "Georgine Kellermann im Gespräch mit Andrea Moos: Das Coming-out einer Transgender-Chefin im WDR. In: WDR.de. 12. December 2019, accessed on 6. December 2020 (available until 12. December 2020, In German, access time from reference on German Wikipedia)". Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  8. "Georgine Kellermann". www1.wdr.de (in German). 21 July 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  9. Kellermann, Georgine (4 September 2020). "Wisst Irh, wie glucklich ich gerade bin?". Twitter (in German). Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  10. "Georgine Kellermann feiert angepasste Geburtsurkunde". Mannschaft (in German). 7 September 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  11. "1999 – Rias Berlin Kommission" (in German). Retrieved 22 April 2021.
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