Jan van Aken (politician)

Jan van Aken (born 3 March 1961 in Lengerich, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German politician. He is a member of the Left Party (Die Linke).

Van Aken studied chemistry at the University of Münster and obtained a doctorate in natural sciences in 1992. He then worked at the University of Münster's Institute for Physical Chemistry. From 1998 to 2009, he worked for the organisation BIPS (Bremer Institut für Präventionsforschung und Sozialmedizin) in Bremen, dealing with biological and chemical weapons.

He became a member of the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism), which later merged into Die Linke, in 2004. From 2009 to 2012, he served as the Federal Managing Director of Die Linke.

Van Aken was a member of the German Bundestag from 2012 to 2017, representing the Hamburg-Altona constituency. During his time in parliament, he served as the foreign policy spokesman for the Die Linke parliamentary group. His political focus included disarmament, arms control, and international relations, particularly concerning the Middle East.