Dr. Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann (born 23 January 1955) is a German politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2009, and from 2014 to 2019. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. Kaufmann is a qualified Japanologist. She was Deputy Chairman of the PDS 1993–2000 and sat in the Volkskammer of the German Democratic Republic before reunification and the Bundestag thereafter. From 20 July 2004 to January 2007 Kaufmann served as one of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament. On 14 May 2009 she left the Left Party after she failed to be reselected for the list of candidates for the European elections and joined the Social Democrats. Kaufmann is member of the executive board of Europa-Union Deutschland, the German section of the Union of European Federalists. References External links Kaufmann at the site of the European Parliament 1955 births Living people German Japanologists Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Members of the 10th Volkskammer Politicians from Berlin The Left (Germany) MEPs Social Democratic Party of Germany MEPs Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany MEPs for Germany 1999–2004 MEPs for Germany 2004–2009 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 20th-century women MEPs for Germany 21st-century women MEPs for Germany Female members of the Volkskammer Women orientalists