Franz Jonas | |
---|---|
7th President of Austria | |
In office 9 June 1965 – 24 April 1974 |
|
Chancellor |
Josef Klaus Bruno Kreisky |
Preceded by | Adolf Schärf |
Succeeded by | Rudolf Kirchschläger |
Personal details | |
Born |
Floridsdorf, now Vienna |
4 October 1899
Died | 24 April 1974 Vienna |
(aged 74)
Nationality | Austrian |
Political party | Social Democratic Party of Austria |
Spouse(s) | Margarete Jonas |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Franz Josef Jonas (German pronunciation: [fʀanʦ ˈjoːnas]; 4 October 1899 – 24 April 1974) was an Austrian political figure. He served as the seventh President of Austria, between 1965 and 1974.
He was a typesetter by profession and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. After World War II he got involved in Viennese communal politics and was mayor of Vienna from 1951 to 1965. From 1965, he was federal president and was re-elected in 1971.
He was a fervent supporter of Esperanto, and starting in 1923, became a long-time instructor of the language. His address to the 1970 World Congress of Esperanto, which was held in Vienna, was delivered in Esperanto.
In 1974, he died in office, the fourth consecutive President to do so.
In Vienna, a large tram station officially called Schottentor which was built when he was mayor is colloquially named after him (Jonas-Reindl, which translates as Jonas bowl).
In 1966 he was awarded the Grand Cross of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav with Collar, and in 1969 the Pierre de Coubertin medal.