One of the most controversial politicians in Germany, Otto Graf Lambsdorff (born 1926) served as minister of economics and spokesman on economic affairs for his party, the liberal Free Democratic Party. In both capacities he was an outspoken champion of free enterprise and an opponent of government intervention in the economy.

Otto Graf Lambsdorff, Count von der Wenge, was born December 20, 1926, in the German city of Aachen; he was the scion of a Rhenish noble family. Lambsdorff served briefly in World War II, returning to civilian life as a severely disabled veteran. (He walked with a pronounced limp, and his collection of walking sticks became something of a personal political trademark.) After his release from military service, Lambsdorff studied law at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne, obtaining his bachelor of law degree in 1950 and a doctorate five years later. After graduation he did not pursue the traditional German...