Heinz Fischer

Heinz Fischer GColIH, born 9 October 1938 is the President of Austria. He took office on 8 July 2004 and was re-elected for a second and last term on 25 April 2010. Before he took office, Fischer was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). He suspended his membership for the duration of the office.


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.


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 the office from the college of presidents of the National Council, who had acted for the President following Klestil's death on 6 July.
Apart from labelling him, in a slightly derogatory fashion, a Berufspolitiker ("professional politician") who allegedly has never been in touch with the real world, Fischer's critics, first and foremost his colleague at university, Norbert Leser, point out that Fischer has always avoided controversy and conflict, even when that would have been called for. The example frequently quoted in this context is Fischer's tacit support of Bruno Kreisky's attacks on Simon Wiesenthal. On being nominated for President, Fischer said that he hated antagonising people and that he considered this quality an asset rather than anything else.


In April 2010, Fischer was re-elected as President of Austria, winning a second six-year term in office with almost 79% of the votes with a record-low voter turnout of merely 53.6%. 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". The reasons for the low turnout lay in the fact that pollsters had predicted a safe victory for Fischer (Austrian presidents running for a second term of office have always won) and the other big party, ÖVP had not nominated a candidate of their own, and had not endorsed anyone of the three candidates; some prominent persons from ÖVP, inoffically, but in public, even suggested to vote 'null and void', which did some ~7% of the voters.


Fischer is an agnostic. Fischer has been married since 1968. The couple has two grown children. Fischer enjoys mountaineering and has been president of the Austrian Friends of Nature for many years.


1993 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
2004 Grand Star of Honour of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
2005 Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry
2006 Collane of Merit Sovereign Military Order of Malta
2006 Grand Cross of the Order of Collane of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
2006 Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary
2007 Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav
2007 Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
2007 Order of the Seraphim
2008 Ring of Honour of the Province of Styria
2009 Florianiplakette of the Austrian Federal Fire Association in gold
2008 Freedom of the City of Graz
2008 Honorary Doctorate of Law Faculty of the University of Tel Aviv
2009 Honorary Doctorate from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences
2009 Grand Collar of the Order of Saint James of the Sword