Rudolf Kirchschläger
| Rudolf Kirchschläger | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 8th President of Austria | |
|
In office 8 July 1974 – 8 July 1986 |
|
| Chancellor |
Bruno Kreisky Fred Sinowatz Franz Vranitzky |
| Preceded by | Franz Jonas |
| Succeeded by | Kurt Waldheim |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 March 1915 Niederkappel, Upper Austria |
| Died | 30 March 2000 (aged 85) Vienna |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Spouse(s) | Herma Kirchschläger (1940–2000) |
| Children | Christa, Walter |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Rudolf Kirchschläger (German pronunciation: [ˈʀuːdɔlf ˈkɪʁçˌʃlɛːɡɐ]; 20 March 1915 – 30 March 2000) was an Austrian diplomat, politician, judge and, from 1974 to 1986, the eighth President of Austria.
Born in Niederkappel, Upper Austria, Kirschläger was orphaned at the age of 11. He graduated from High School in Horn in 1935 with distinction and started to study law at the University of Vienna. However, after the Anschluss of Austria in 1938, he had to give up his studies. Without joining the NSDAP, which he refused to do, his scholarship was revoked and Kirchschläger could not finance his studies any longer. Kirchschläger worked as a bank clerk in 1938 until he was drafted to service in the infantry of the Wehrmacht in the summer of 1939. Kirchschläger fought as a soldier from the very beginning of the war, first during the invasion of Poland, later on the Western Front, and after 1941 against Russia on the Eastern Front.
In late 1940, in order to get out of the military, he used a two-month front-leave to prepare for the final exam (Staatsexamen) of his law studies. Legend has it that he was working up to 20 hours a day, while keeping himself awake with large amounts of honey. Subsequently he passed the exams and graduated to Doctor iuris.
However, he was sent back to the Eastern Front, where he was wounded in 1942. Towards the end of war, he was captain and training officer at the military academy at Wiener Neustadt in the Vienna region. In early April 1945, commanding a company of cadets fighting approaching Soviet troops, he was badly wounded on his leg, an injury from which he would never fully recover.
After the war Kirchschläger worked as a district judge until 1954 in Langenlois and later Vienna. In 1954 he got the chance to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, although he did not speak any foreign languages. In order to take part in the negotiations on the Austrian State Treaty he taught himself English in only a few months.
...
Wikipedia