Editing Franz Jonas

{{Short description|President of Austria from 1965 to 1974}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Franz Jonas
| image               = Franz Jonas 1965.jpg
| office              = [[President of Austria]]
| term_start          = 9 June 1965
| term_end            = 24 April 1974
| chancellor          = [[Josef Klaus]]<br />[[Bruno Kreisky]]
| predecessor         = [[Adolf Schärf]]
| successor           = [[Rudolf Kirchschläger]]
| office1             = [[List of mayors of Vienna|Mayor and Governor of Vienna]]
| term_start1         = 18 June 1951
| term_end1           = 9 June 1965
| predecessor1        = [[Theodor Körner (president)|Theodor Körner]]
| successor1          = [[Bruno Marek]]
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|df=yes|1899|10|4}}
| birth_place         = [[Floridsdorf]], Austria-Hungary
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1974|4|24|1899|10|4}}
| death_place         = Vienna, Austria
| party               = [[Social Democratic Party of Austria|Socialist Party of Austria]]
| spouse              = [[Margarete Jonas]]
| caption             = Jonas in 1965
}}

'''Franz Josef Jonas''' (4 October 1899 – 24 April 1974) was an Austrian politician who served as the [[president of Austria]] between 1965 and 1974 as a member of the [[Socialist Party of Austria]]. He previously served as [[mayor of Vienna]] from 1951 to 1965 while simultaneously serving in the [[Austrian Parliament]]. Jonas first entered politics as a young adult while he was working as a typesetter, joining the [[Socialist Youth Movement]] and the Printers' Union. He served on the town council of [[Floridsdorf]] beginning in 1945 and was then placed in command of Vienna's food supply and housing in 1948 and 1949, respectively. Jonas took interest in international affairs, making several international trips as mayor and as president. As president, he oversaw the creation of a [[minority government]] under [[Bruno Kreisky]], the leader of the Socialist Party. Jonas died in office after he was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

== Early life and career ==
Franz Jonas was born in [[Vienna]] on 4 October 1899. He was born to a working class family and had seven siblings. After graduating school, he attended the printers' school of graphic arts.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974">{{Cite news |date=May 1974 |title=Franz Jonas 1899–1974 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSD9TN-ZlnQC&dq=Franz+Jonas&pg=RA2-PA2 |work=Austrian Information |pages=2 |volume=27 |issue=3}}</ref> He later attended the Wiener Arbeiterbildungszentrum ({{Translation|Viennese Workers' Education Centre}}) where his instructors included fellow future presidents [[Karl Renner]], [[Adolf Schärf]], and [[Theodor Körner (president)|Theodor Körner]].<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He did not receive formal schooling at a traditional university.<ref name="Lentz 2014" /> Jonas was conscripted during [[World War I]] to fight in the [[Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces]] in 1917.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He served in the Deutschmeister regiment,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Ziegler |first=Senta |url=https://archive.org/details/osterreichsfirst0000zieg |title=Österreichs First Ladies: von Louise Renner bis Margot Klestil-Löffler |date=1999 |publisher=Ueberreuter |isbn=978-3-8000-3719-3 |location=Wien |pages=44–60 |language=de |url-access=registration}}</ref> where he served on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]] and the [[Italian front (World War I)|Italian front]]. He got a job as a [[typesetter]] at the end of the war in 1919 and continued in the profession until 1932.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" />

Jonas met Margarete "Grete" Towarek in 1921 at the home of a worker with the socialists, and they married on 22 December 1922. They honeymooned in the [[Vienna Woods]] and then moved into a Krankenhaushäusern in Floridsdorf. They did not have any children, as they were first unable to support any financially and then were unable to have any because of health complications.<ref name=":0" /> Jonas was interested in designing stamps, and he played sports.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He was also an [[Esperantist]], joining the [[Esperanto workers movement]] and becoming an instructor of the language.<ref name=":0" />

Jonas became active in socialist politics, joining the [[Socialist Youth Movement]], becoming an official in the Printers' Union, and serving as socialist organiser for his district in the 1930s.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He was arrested along with numerous other socialists in 1935 and charged with treason, but he was acquitted and released in 1936.<ref name="Lentz 2014">{{Cite book |last=Lentz |first=Harris M. |title=Heads of States and Governments Since 1945 |date=2014 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-1-134-26490-2 |pages=57–58|doi=10.4324/9781315074023}}</ref> The typesetter shop where he had worked closed at this time, leaving him unemployed.<ref name=":0" /> Jonas became an engine factory clerk during [[World War II]].<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He was appointed to the town council of [[Floridsdorf]] after the Allied powers [[Allied-occupied Austria|took control of Austria]] in 1945, where he became chairman in 1946.<ref name="Lentz 2014" /> Jonas was put in command of Vienna's food supply in 1948, and he became the Viennese Commissioner for Housing in 1949.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He became leader of Vienna's branch of the [[Socialist Party of Austria]] (SPÖ) in 1950.<ref name=":0" />

== Mayor of Vienna ==
Jonas became [[mayor of Vienna]] in June 1951 as the previous office holder, his former instructor Körner, became [[president of Austria]]. Jonas served as the Viennese mayor for 14 years.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974"/> Because of his interest in foreign affairs, Jonas made several international trips while he was mayor.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He emphasised the city's international significance, seeking to revitalise it as a hub for European culture and diplomacy. Jonas was elected to parliament the same year his mayoralty began. He served in the [[Federal Council (Austria)|Federal Council]] from 1951 to 1953 and then moved to the [[National Council (Austria)|National Council]].<ref name="Lentz 2014" /> He held this position until he was elected president in 1965. As mayor, Jonas also served the chairman of the Austrian union of towns and an executive within the [[Council of European Municipalities and Regions]].<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He was generally popular as mayor.<ref name="Lentz 2014" />

== President of Austria ==
President [[Adolf Schärf]] of the [[Socialist Party of Austria]] (SPÖ) died in office, prompting [[1965 Austrian presidential election|a presidential election in 1965]].<ref name="Kohn 1971">{{Cite journal |last=Kohn |first=Walter S. G. |date=1 April 1971 |title=The Austrian Parliamentary Elections of 1971 |url=https://academic.oup.com/pa/article/25/2/163/1501684/THE-AUSTRIAN-PARLIAMENTARY-ELECTIONS-OF-1971 |journal=Parliamentary Affairs |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a051592 |pages=166–167 |issn=1460-2482|volume=25|issue=2|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Jonas won the election and was elected president on 23 May 1965.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He was elected by the SPÖ with a popular vote of 2,324,436, defeating [[Austrian People's Party]] (ÖVP) candidate [[Alfons Gorbach]] who received 2,260,888 votes.<ref name="Kohn 1971" /> Jonas's lack of a formal education was a major issue during the election.<ref name="Lentz 2014" /> He took office on 21 June 1951.<ref name="Müller 1999">{{Cite book |last=Müller |first=Wolfgang C. |title=Semi-Presidentialism in Europe |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-159915-6 |editor-last=Elgie |editor-first=Robert |pages=22–47 |chapter=Austria|doi=10.1093/0198293860.003.0002}}</ref>

In 1966, Jonas was awarded the Grand Cross of [[The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav]] with Collar, and in 1969 the [[Austrian Olympic Committee|ÖOC]] Pierre de Coubertin Medal.<ref>[http://www.la84foundation.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1969/ore22/ore22o.pdf Newsletter No. 22] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614023721/http://www.la84foundation.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1969/ore22/ore22o.pdf |date=14 June 2012 }}, Comité international olympique, Château de Vidy 1007 Lausanne, p. 402</ref>

Jonas used his power to reject government appointments in the 1960s to oppose the ÖVP government's choices for president of the administrative court and for ambassador to [[West Germany]].<ref name="Müller 1999" /> Jonas was popular among the public, to the point that SPÖ party leader [[Bruno Kreisky]] tried to make their names synonymous during the [[1970 Austrian legislative election|1970 legislative election]].<ref name="Kohn 1971" /> No party won a majority of seats, so Jonas was responsible for approving a negotiated government. The SPÖ held a plurality and Kreisky asked Jonas to appoint a [[minority government]] with the implicit endorsement of the [[Freedom Party of Austria]]. Rather than force coalition negotiations, Jonas agreed and appointed Kreisky as [[chancellor of Austria]].<ref name="Müller 1999" /> Jonas was reelected president [[1971 Austrian presidential election|on 25 April 1971]].<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> He received 2,488,372 votes, defeating ÖVP candidate [[Kurt Waldheim]] who received 2,225,368 votes.<ref name="Kohn 1971" /> Jonas's second term began on 9 June 1971.<ref name="Müller 1999" />

Continuing his interest in international affairs, Jonas visited Iran in 1965, the United Kingdom in 1966, Thailand and Canada in 1967, Yugoslavia in 1968, Switzerland and Romania in 1969, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Hungary in 1970, Finland in 1972, and West Germany in 1973.<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> His visit to the United Kingdom received widespread attention as it was the first time a leader of a former [[Axis powers|Axis]] nation visited an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] nation.<ref name=":0" /> He also hosted several leaders in Vienna, including Norwegian king [[Olav V]], Soviet president [[Nikolai Podgorny]], Yugoslav president [[Josip Broz Tito]], British queen [[Elizabeth II]], and Romanian president [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]].<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> Jonas removed himself from his duties as president on 27 March 1974 following a diagnosis of stomach cancer.<ref name="Lentz 2014" /> He died in a [[Vienna University]] clinic<ref name="Austrian Information 1974" /> on 24 April 1974.<ref name="Müller 1999" />

== References ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Theodor Körner (president)|Theodor Körner]]
| title = [[List of mayors of Vienna|Mayor and Governor of Vienna]]
| years = 1951–1965
| after = [[Bruno Marek]]
}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Adolf Schärf]]
| title = [[President of Austria]]
| years = 1965–1974
| after = [[Rudolf Kirchschläger]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Presidents of Austria|State Presidents of Austria}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonas, Franz}}
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:Austrian Esperantists]]
[[Category:Austrian people of Czech descent]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Austria to Peru]]
[[Category:Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Mayors of Vienna]]
[[Category:Politicians from Vienna]]
[[Category:Presidents of Austria]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria]]
[[Category:Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians]]