前西德总理施密特逝世

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　　前西德总理、在上世纪70年代至80年代初带领国家挺过世界经济危机和冷战紧张局势的赫尔穆特施密特(Helmut Schmidt)去世，享年96岁。

　　Of the six chancellors³ who led West Germany between the end of the second world war and its 1990 reunification with the east, none wore the mantle⁴ of statesmanship at home and abroad with more poise⁵ and more trenchant⁶ professionalism than Schmidt.

　　在从第二次世界大战结束至1990年两德统一的那段时期主政西德的六名总理中，没有第二个人做得到像施密特那样，以沉着以及犀利的专业精神在国内外扮演政治家的角色。

　　Angela Merkel, the current chancellor, praised Schmidt as a man who had “rendered outstanding service to his country”. She said she often sought his advice, and had visited him in Hamburg as recently as last year.

　　现任德国总理安格拉默克尔(Angela Merkel)称赞施密特“为国家提供了杰出的服务”。她说，她经常征求他的意见，就在去年还去汉堡拜访了他。

　　“He was a political institution,” Ms Merkel said.

　　“他是一个政治名人，”默克尔说。

　　Ms Merkel singled out how Schmidt had dealt with the challenge of terrorism in 1970s Germany, supported the deployment⁷ of Pershing cruise missiles in western Europe in the 1980s, a controversial decision that put strains on his Social Democratic party (SPD), and helped to launch the European Monetary⁹ System in 1979.

　　默克尔提到了施密特如何在上世纪70年代应对德国面临的恐怖主义挑战，在80年代支持在西欧部署潘兴(Pershing)弹道导弹（那是一个有争议的决定，使他所在的社民党(SPD)受到压力），并在1979年帮助启动欧洲货币体系(European Monetary System)。

　　She called him “one of the fathers of summit diplomacy”, noting that he and the French president Giscard d’Estaing had held one of the world’s first economic summits 40 years ago.

　　默克尔形容施密特是“峰会外交的鼻祖之一”，指出他与时任法国总统的吉斯卡尔德斯坦(Giscard d’Estaing)在40年前举行了世界上最早的经济峰会之一。

　　When he succeeded Willy Brandt in 1974 as the country’s second Social Democrat⁸ chancellor, Schmidt — a former defence and finance minister — brought a wealth of experience to his office and quickly developed authority on the world stage.

　　当他在1974年接替维利勃兰特(Willy Brandt)，成为西德第二位社民党总理时，曾担任国防部长和财政部长的施密特带来了丰富的经验，在世界舞台上迅速树立了威信。

　　The centre-left Social Democrat led West Germany from 1974 to 1982, when he lost power to conservative Helmut Kohl. His leadership qualities, like his principles, were turned to the best advantage of his country and of Europe.

　　中间偏左的社民党从1974年起主政西德至1982年，那年施密特败在保守的赫尔穆特科尔(Helmut Kohl)手下。施密特的领袖气质和他的原则一样，成为他的国家乃至整个欧洲的最佳优势。

　　Schmidt’s straight-talking, sometimes moralistic political style was influenced by a conviction that his country had to build on the most stringent¹⁰ lessons from the catastrophe¹¹ of the war.

　　施密特直话直说、有时近乎道德说教的政治风格背后的信念是，他的国家必须在汲取战争灾难所带来的最严厉教训的基础上谋求发展。

　　His view was that the shadow of Hitler and Auschwitz obliged Germany to promote European integration¹² and international stability.

　　他的观点是，希特勒和奥斯维辛集中营的阴影使德国有义务推动欧洲一体化和国际稳定。

　　One his best-known sayings, which summed up his gritty, pragmatic side and suspicion of ideologues was “whoever has a vision should go and visit a doctor”. Schmidt went on to become an iconic elder statesman, weighing in on Germany’s political debates into his 90s.

　　他最爱说的一句话是“有想象力的人都应该去看医生”，这句话道出了他坚强务实的一面，以及他对空想家的怀疑。施密特后来成为一个偶像般的元老级政治家，在90多岁时仍然影响着德国的政治辩论。

　　The Suddeutsche newspaper said in an obituary¹³: “As a politician, Helmut Schmidt was a crisis manager and global economist¹⁴. As a pensioner¹⁵, he was a publicist and elder statesman. After he was voted out of the chancellery, his popularity rose from year to year.”

　　《南德意志报》(Suddeutsche)的讣告称：“作为一个政治人物，赫尔穆特施密特是一位危机管理者和全球经济学家。作为一名退休的人，他是一个公关专家和元老级政治家。在他被选民们逐出总理府之后，他的人气一年比一年高。”

　　Frank-Walter Steinmeier, foreign minister, said: “We Germans have lost a father figure ... Helmut Schmidt was not only a chancellor of the Germans -— he was a mentor¹⁶ of the Germans.”

　　德国外长弗兰克-瓦尔特施泰因迈尔(Frank-Walter Steinmeier)表示：“我们德国人失去了一个父亲般的人物……赫尔穆特施密特不仅是德国人的总理，他还是德国人的导师。”

　　Mr Steinmeier praised Schmidt’s global vision, saying he “always saw Germany in Europe and Europe on the world stage”. He joked about Schmidt’s love of smoking, saying: “ Helmut Schmidt was a great statesman down to his last cigarette.”

　　施泰因迈尔称赞施密特的全球视野，称他“总是在欧洲的舞台上看待德国，在世界舞台上看待欧洲”。他调侃了施密特的烟瘾，称：“赫尔穆特施密特直到抽最后一根烟的时候仍是一位伟大的政治家。”

　　Hans-Dietrich Genscher, a former German foreign minister, said: “We know that Germany has become poorer, and we feel that we will miss him again and again ... For me, Helmut Schmidt’s death marks the parting from a companion in difficult times.”

　　德国前外长汉斯-迪特里希根舍(Hans-Dietrich Genscher)表示：“我们知道德国遭受了无可挽回的损失，我们觉得我们会一次又一次怀念他……对我而言，赫尔穆特施密特的逝世标志着在困难的时候告别一位同伴。”

　　Sigmar Gabriel, head of the SPD said: “Helmut Schmidt embodied¹⁷ in the best sense of the word the international tradition of social democracy ... we will miss his judgment¹⁸, his world view and his advice. We grieve for Helmut Schmidt and are proud that he was one of us.”

　　社民党主席西格马尔加布里尔(Sigmar Gabriel)表示：“赫尔穆特施密特体现了国际社会民主传统的精华……我们会想念他的判断力，他的世界观和他的高见。我们哀悼赫尔穆特施密特，并对他曾经是我党的一员感到自豪。”

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