Elisabeth Niggemann

Elisabeth Niggemann was born in Dortmund on April 2, 1954.[1] In college she studied biology and English, receiving a Ph.D. in biology from Ruhr University Bochum.[1][2]

Niggemann started her career in libraries in 1987 at the German National Library of Medicine as head of the acquisitions department.[3] In 1989 she became head of cataloguing and subject indexing at the University and State Library at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf; in 1994 she became director of that library.[3] From 1990 to 1995 she also lectured in library and information science at Heinrich Heine University.[2]

Niggemann became the Director General of the German National Library in 1999.[4] In 2019 she announced her retirement, with Frank Scholze taking her place as Director General as of January 1, 2020.[5]

In 2010, Niggemann was a member of the Comité des Sages, the European Union's high-level reflection group, examining the digitization of Europe's cultural heritage.[6][7] She chaired the Conference of European National Librarians, a network of Europe’s national libraries, between 2005 and 2011.[6]

She was the first chair of the Europeana Foundation, from 2007 to 2011, helping to launch and consolidate the digital platform for cultural heritage.[6] She was reelected as chair in September 2017, leading the Board of the Foundation to maintain the sustainability of Europeana.[6]

Niggemann is one of the editors of Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie.[8] She has also written or co-written a number of reports on cultural heritage strategies, including The New Renaissance (2011) and Fachinformationsdienste statt Sondersammelgebiete (2014).[9]

In March 2018, Niggeman was awarded Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.[10]