Heinz Fischer | |
|---|---|
 Fischer in 2018 | |
| 11th President of Austria | |
| In office 8 July 2004 – 8 July 2016 | |
| Chancellor | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Klestil |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Van der Bellen |
| Second President of the National Council | |
| In office 20 December 2002 – 16 June 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Prinzhorn |
| Succeeded by | Barbara Prammer |
| President of the National Council | |
| In office 5 November 1990 – 20 December 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Rudolf Pöder |
| Succeeded by | Andreas Khol |
| Minister of Science and Research | |
| In office 24 May 1983 – 21 January 1987 | |
| Chancellor | |
| Preceded by | Hertha Firnberg |
| Succeeded by | Hans Tuppy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 October 1938 Graz, Reichsgau Steiermark, State of Austria, German Reich (now Graz, Styria, Austria) |
| Political party | Independent (2004–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Social Democratic Party (until 2004) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna (PhD) |
| Awards | Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Order of Prince Henry Royal Order of the Seraphim Military Order of Saint James of the Sword |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Austria |
| Branch/service |  Austrian Armed Forces |
| Years of service | 1958 |
| Unit | Heerestelegrafenbataillon Army Signal Corps |
Heinz Fischer GColIH, OMRI, RSerafO, GCollSE (German pronunciation: [haɪnts ˈfɪʃɐ] ⓘ; born 9 October 1938) is an Austrian politician who served as the president of Austria from 2004 to 2016. Fischer previously served as minister of science from 1983 to 1987 and as president of the National Council of Austria from 1990 to 2002.[1] A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) until 2004, he suspended his party membership as he became president.[2][3][4]
Early life
[edit]Fischer was born to a Jewish family in Graz, Styria, which had recently become part of Nazi Germany, following Germany's annexation of Austria in March 1938. Fischer attended a grammar school which focused on humanities and graduated in 1956. He studied law at the University of Vienna, earning a doctorate in 1961. In 1963, at the age of 25, Fischer spent a year volunteering at Kibbutz Sarid, northern Israel.[5] Apart from being a politician, Fischer also pursued an academic career, and became a professor of Political Science at the University of Innsbruck in 1994.[6]
Political career
[edit]
Fischer was a member of the Austrian parliament, the National Council, from 1971, and served as its president from 1990 to 2002. From 1983 to 1987 he was minister of science in a coalition government headed by Fred Sinowatz.
First term as president
[edit]In January 2004 Fischer announced that he would run for president to succeed Thomas Klestil. He was elected on 25 April 2004 as the candidate of the opposition Social Democratic Party. He polled 52.4 per cent of the votes to defeat Benita Ferrero-Waldner, then foreign minister in the ruling conservative coalition led by the People's Party.
Fischer was sworn in on 8 July 2004 and took over office from the college of presidents of the National Council, who had acted for the president following Klestil's death on 6 July.
Second term as president
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In April 2010, Fischer was re-elected president of Austria, winning a second six-year term in office with almost 79% of the votes. The voter turnout of merely 53.6% was a record low.[7] Around a third of those eligible to vote voted for Fischer, leading the conservative daily Die Presse to describe the election as an "absolute majority for non-voters".[8] The reasons behind the low turnout may have been that pollsters had predicted a safe victory for Fischer (past Austrian presidents running for a second term had always won) and that the other large party, ÖVP, had not nominated a candidate of their own, and had not endorsed any of the three candidates. Prominent ÖVP members, unofficially but in public, even suggested to cast a blank vote, which 7% of the voters did.
Post-presidency
[edit]In 2017, he and former UN secretary-general Ban-Ki Moon co-founded the Ban Ki-Moon Centre for Global Citizens, an international non-governmental organization to advance the Sustainable Development Goals, headquartered in Vienna.[9]
Personal life
[edit]
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Fischer identifies himself as agnostic[11] and as a social democrat. He and Margit Binder married in 1968. The couple have two grown children.
Despite being members of opposing parties, Fischer was close friends with former ÖVP politician Sixtus Lanner.[12]
He enjoys mountaineering and has been president of the Austrian Friends of Nature for many years.
Honours and awards
[edit]National honours
[edit]Federal order
[edit]- 2004:
Grand Star of Honour of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
State honours
[edit]- 2008: Ring of Honour of the Province of Styria
- 2008: Freedom of the City of Graz
Awards
[edit]- 2009: Florianiplakette of the Austrian Federal Fire Association in gold
Foreign honours
[edit]Foreign orders
[edit]- 1993:
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy) - 2005:
Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry (Portugal)[13] - 2005:
Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain) - 2006:
Grand Cross of the Order of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (Finland) - 2006:
Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (Hungary) - 2006:
Collar of the Order pro merito Melitensi (Sovereign Military Order of Malta) - 2007:
Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy) - 2007:
Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (Norway) - 2007:
Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (Sweden) - 2009:
Grand Cross with Golden Chain of the Order of Vytautas the Great (Lithuania)[14] - 2009:
Grand Collar of the Order of Saint James of the Sword (Portugal)[13] - 2009:
Grand Collar of the Order of the White Lion (Czech Republic) - 2012:
Collar of the Order of Merit (Chile) - 2013:
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (France) - 2013:
Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (Luxembourg)[15] - 2014:
National Flag Order (Albania)[16] - 2015:
Grand Collar of the Order of the Condor of the Andes (Bolivia) - 2016:
Order of the Balkan Mountains (Bulgaria)
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Foreign awards
[edit]- 2008: Honorary Doctorate of Law Faculty of the University of Tel Aviv
- 2009: Honorary Doctorate from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Präsidentinnen und Präsidenten seit 1920 | Parlament Österreich". www.parlament.gv.at.
- ^ Online, Wiener Zeitung. "Wiener Zeitung Online – Tageszeitung für Österreich". Wiener Zeitung Online – Tageszeitung für Österreich.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Neuer alter Präsident". Bayerischer Rundfunk. 25 April 2010. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
- ^ Christian Böhmer; Michael Hammerl (25 April 2023). "Warum Heinz Fischer Rendi-Wagner unterstützt - aber nicht für sie abstimmt (Why Heinz Fischer supports Rendi-Wagner - but doesn't vote for her)". kurier.at (in German). Wien: k-digital Medien GmbH & Co KG. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ "Austrian president vows to bring up Schalit case with Assad – Middle East".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "External lecturers". Department of Political Science, University of Innsbruck. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ "Austria president sweeps to victory". Al Jazeera. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ "Gulf Times- Qatar's top-selling English daily newspaper - Homepage". www.gulf-times.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010.
- ^ Bundespräsident (8 September 2022). ""Internationale Zusammenarbeit ist angesichts der aktuellen Herausforderungen wichtiger denn je!"". www.bundespraesident.at (in German). Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "President of Austria Visits ESO in Santiago". ESO Announcements. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
- ^ "Bundespräsident.at: "Es kann auch das Standesamt sein" profil". www.bundespraesident.at. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
- ^ "Former ÖVP General Secretary Sixtus Lanner died at the age of 88". Der Standard (in Austrian German). 14 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ a b Portuguese President's website Archived 17 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Lithuanian Presidency Archived 19 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Lithuanian Orders searching form
- ^ "L'actualité des royautés, "Henri et Maria Teresa en Autriche"" (in French). Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
- ^ Republikes, Presidenti i. "Website Zyrtar". president.al. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
Further reading
[edit]- "Rede: Zum 85. Geburtstag des österreichischen Bundespräsidenten a. D. Heinz Fischer". Der Bundespräsident (in German). Retrieved 5 October 2023.
