First Lady of Austria (German: Ehepartner des österreichischen Bundespräsidenten) is the title attributed to the wife (or, in place of a wife, a designee, such as a daughter) of the president of Austria.[1][2] The current first lady is Doris Schmidauer, wife of President Alexander Van der Bellen, who has held the position since 26 January 2017.[3]
| First Lady of Austria | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Inaugural holder | Luise Renner |
| Formation | 20 December 1945 |
First ladies of the First Austrian Republic (1919–1934)
edit| First Lady | Term Begins | Term Ends | President of Austria | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emilie Hainisch | 9 December 1920 | 10 December 1928 | Michael Hainisch | |
| Leopoldine Miklas | 10 December 1928 | 13 March 1938 | Wilhelm Miklas |
First ladies of the Second Austrian Republic (1945–present)
edit| First Lady | Term Begins | Term Ends | President of Austria | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luise Renner | 20 December 1945 | 31 December 1950 | Karl Renner | |
| Position vacant | 21 June 1951 | 4 January 1957 | Theodor Körner | Körner was a bachelor. |
| Martha Kyrle | 22 May 1957 | 28 February 1965 | Adolf Schärf | Schärf's wife, Hilda Schärf, died in 1956 before he became president. Their daughter, Martha Kyrle, served as First Lady during his tenure in office. President Schärf died in office. |
| Margarete Jonas | 9 June 1965 | 24 April 1974 | Franz Jonas | |
| Herma Kirchschläger | 8 July 1974 | 8 July 1986 | Rudolf Kirchschläger | |
| Elisabeth Waldheim | 8 July 1986 | 8 July 1992 | Kurt Waldheim | |
| Edith Klestil | 8 July 1992 | 1994 | Thomas Klestil | Edith Klestil left Thomas Klestil in January 1994 following revelations of his affair with his aide, Margot Löffler.[4][5][6][7] Edith Klestil was voted Austria's "Woman of the Year" in March 1994.[4] The Klestils divorced on 17 September 1998 after forty year of marriage and a four-year separation.[8] |
| Margot Klestil-Löffler | 23 December 1998 (marriage) | 6 July 2004 | Thomas Klestil | President Klestil and Margot Löffler initially agreed to separate in January 1994 following the revelations of their affair,[7] but later reconnected. They married on 23 December 1998, just a few months after Klestil's divorce from Edith Klestil. President Klestil died in office on 6 July 2004.[4] Klestil-Löffler, a diplomat, served as Ambassador to the Czech Republic (2004–2009) and Russia (2009–2014). |
| Margit Fischer | 8 July 2004 | 8 July 2016 | Heinz Fischer | |
| Doris Schmidauer | 26 January 2017 | Present | Alexander Van der Bellen | Schmidauer and Van der Bellen married in December 2015.[9] Schmidauer, who is head of personnel and management of the Green Party Parliamentary Club as of January 2017, has expressed a desire to continue working for the Green Party while she serves as Austria's First Lady.[3][10] |
References
edit- ^ Mittelstaedt, Katharina (2016-11-30). "First Lady ohne Auftrag". Der Standard. Archived from the original on 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
- ^ Markus, Georg (2016-12-04). "Beruf: First Lady". Kurier. Archived from the original on 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
- ^ a b Mittelstaedt, Katharina (2016-12-04). "Das ist die neue First Lady". Österreich. Archived from the original on 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
- ^ a b c "Thomas Klestil obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 2004-07-08. Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
- ^ "Austrian President Leaves Wife, Loses Aide". Washington Post. 1994-01-24. Archived from the original on 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
- ^ Kinzer, Stephen (1994-01-26). "The Talk of Vienna: President's Affair". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
- ^ a b "President loses wife and mistress". The Independent. 1994-01-26. Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
- ^ "President of Austria picks mistress over longtime wife". Hürriyet Daily News. Associated Press. 1998-09-19. Archived from the original on 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
- ^ ČTK (4 December 2016). "Vyhrážali sa mu smrťou, teraz bude prezidentom. Na scénu prichádza "Zelený profesor"". Hospodárske Noviny (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 2018-01-16. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
- ^ "Doris Schmidauer: Das ist Österreichs neue First Lady". Heute (in Austrian German). 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 5 December 2016.