{ { Infobox officeholder
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Boris Pistorius (2019) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Pistorius in 2019
| office = Minister of Defence
| chancellor = Olaf Scholz
| term_start = 19 January 2023
| term_end =
| predecessor = Christine Lambrecht
| successor =
| office1 = Minister for Interior and Sportsof Lower Saxony
| 1blankname1 =
| 1namedata1 =
| term_start1 = 19 February 2013
| term_end1 = 18 January 2023
| predecessor1 = Uwe Schünemann
| successor1 = Daniela Behrens
| office2 = Lord Mayor of Osnabrück
| deputy2 =
| term_start2 = 7 November 2006
| term_end2 = 19 February 2013
| predecessor2 = Hans-Jürgen Fip
| successor2 = Wolfgang Griesert
| party = Social Democratic Party
| birth_name = Boris Ludwig Pistorius
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, West Germany
| alma_mater =
| residence =
| spouse =
| partner = Doris Schröder-Köpf (2016–2022) | children = 2 | occupation = | website = | allegiance = | branch = Bundeswehr | serviceyears = 1980–1981 | unit = German Army (Heer) / Flugabwehrregiment 11 | signature = Boris Pistorius Signature.jpg }} Boris Pistorius (; born 14 March 1960) is a German lawyer and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), he has been serving as the Federal Minister of Defence since 19 January 2023 in the Scholz cabinet. He had previously been State Minister for Interior and Sports in the state government of Lower Saxony (Cabinet Weil II) since 2013. He served in the State Parliament of Lower Saxony from 2017, until his position as Federal Minister in 2023.
Early life and education
Pistorius was born in Osnabrück, the second son of Ursula Pistorius (née Raabe; 1933–2015) and Ludwig Pistorius (1923–2009). His mother was a member of the Osnabrück city council from 1972 to 1996 and also served as a member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony from 1978 to 1990.
After taking his abitur at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Gymnasium in Osnabrück, he was conscripted to military service in the Bundeswehr in 1980 before taking up law studies at the University of Münster and Osnabrück University, and also, for a brief period, at the Catholic University of the West.
Early career
Pistorius worked as the personal advisor to State Minister for Interior of Lower Saxony Gerhard Glogowski in government led by Minister-President Gerhard Schröder from 1991 to 1995, and was the deputy head of his office from 1995 to 1996.
Political career
Career in local politics
Pistorius joined the SPD in 1976.
Pistorius was part of the city council from 1996 until 2013 and from 1999 to 2002 he served as second mayor of Osnabrück.
Pistorius served as Mayor of Osnabrück starting his mayoral term on 7 November 2006 winning with 55.5% against Wolfgang Griesert who would later go on to become the Mayor after Pistorius's resignation due to his position at the Lower Saxony government in 2013.
State Minister of the Interior, 2013–2022
After the Lower Saxony state elections in 2013, Pistorius was sworn in as State Minister of the Interior and Sports at the constituent session of the 17th State Parliament of Lower Saxony on 19 February 2013.
From 2013 to 2017, Pistorius was one of the state's representatives on the German Bundesrat; from 2017, he was an alternate member. In this capacity, he was a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up in cooperation with the Russian Federation Council. He was also an alternate member of the German delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where he was part of the Political Committee, its Sub-Committee on NATO Partnerships and its Sub-Committee on Transatlantic Relations.
During his time in office in state government, Pistorius was widely seen as standing out in his state for his tough stance on Islamist radicalism, terror threats, organized crime and far-right extremism.
Role in national politics
In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel's leadership following the 2017 federal elections, Pistorius was part of the working group on internal and legal affairs, led by Thomas de Maizière, Stephan Mayer and Heiko Maas.