Heinz Fischer

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Early lifeEdit

Fischer was born 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. 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Political careerEdit

File:Austrian federal president's re-election party, Vienna 20100425.jpg

Re-election party in 2010

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 for science in a coalition government headed by Fred Sinowatz.

First term as presidentEdit

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 presidentEdit

File:Yukio Hatoyama and Heinz Fischer at the Japanese Kantei in 2009 (1).jpg

Fischer with Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama in Tokyo on 30 September 2009

File:Kirchner&Fischer.png

Fischer with Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in the Pink House.

File:Fischer Ostermayer Klug f3 Michelides.jpg

With ministers Ostermayer and Klug at the opening of the Memorial for the Victims of Nazi Military Justice on the Ballhausplatz

File:Ali Khamenei receives Heinz Fischer in his house (3).jpg

Fischer with Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on 8 September 2015

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.<ref name="Austria president sweeps to victory">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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-presidencyEdit

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

File:The President of Austria, Heinz Fischer is welcomed to ESO’s premises in Santiago.jpg

Heinz Fischer is welcomed to ESO's premises in Santiago.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Coat of Arms of Heinz Fischer (Order of the Seraphim).svg

Arms as knight of the Seraphim

Fischer identifies himself as agnostic<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He enjoys mountaineering and has been president of the Austrian Friends of Nature for many years.

Honours and awardsEdit

National honoursEdit

Federal orderEdit

2004: File:AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 1st Class BAR.svg Grand Star of Honour of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)

State honoursEdit

2008: Ring of Honour of the Province of Styria
2008: Freedom of the City of Graz

AwardsEdit

2009: Florianiplakette of the Austrian Federal Fire Association in gold

Foreign honoursEdit

Foreign ordersEdit

1993: File:Cordone di gran Croce OMRI BAR.svg Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy)
2005: File:PRT Order of Prince Henry - Grand Collar BAR.svg Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry (Portugal)<ref name="Portuguese President's website">Portuguese President's website Template:Webarchive</ref>
2005: File:ESP Isabella Catholic Order GC.svg Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain)
2006: File:FIN Order of the White Rose Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
2006: File:HUN Order of Merit of the Hungarian Rep (civ) 1class Collar BAR.svg Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (Hungary)
2006: File:OPMM-co.svg Collar of the Order pro merito Melitensi (Sovereign Military Order of Malta)
2007: File:ITA OMRI 2001 GC-GCord BAR.svg Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy)
2007: File:Order Sint Olaf 1 kl.png Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (Norway)
2007: File:Seraphimerorden ribbon.svg Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (Sweden)
2009: File:LTU Order of Vytautas the Great with the Golden Chain BAR.svg Grand Cross with Golden Chain of the Order of Vytautas the Great (Lithuania)<ref>Lithuanian Presidency Template:Webarchive, Lithuanian Orders searching form</ref>
2009: File:PRT Order of Saint James of the Sword - Grand Collar BAR.png Grand Collar of the Order of Saint James of the Sword (Portugal)<ref name="Portuguese President's website" />
2009: File:CZE Rad Bileho Lva 1 tridy BAR.svg Grand Collar of the Order of the White Lion (Czech Republic)
2012: File:CHL Order of Merit GC and Collar.svg Collar of the Order of Merit (Chile)
2013: File:Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (France)
2013: File:Huisorde van de Gouden Leeuw van Nassau Ribbon.gif Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (Luxembourg)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2014: File:ALB National Flag Order.png National Flag Order (Albania)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation