Alexander Van der Bellen

Alexander Van der Bellen
Leader of the Green Party
In office
December 1997 – 3 October 2008
Preceded by Christoph Chorherr
Succeeded by Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek
Personal details
Born (1944-01-18) 18 January 1944
Vienna, Austria
Political party SPÖ (Before 1992)
Green Party (1992–present)
Spouse(s) Brigitte (div.)
Doris Schmidauer (2015–present)
Children 2
Alma mater University of Innsbruck

Alexander Van der Bellen (born 18 January 1944) is an Austrian economist and politician. A member of the Austrian Green Party, he was chairman of the parliamentary club and federal spokesperson of his party from 1997 to 2008.[1][2] He is a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, and finished second in the first round.

Life and career

Van der Bellen was born in Vienna, to an aristocratic Russian-born father of Dutch descent and an Estonian-born mother who were both refugees from Stalinism. The Van der Bellen family is descended from a Dutch glazier who emigrated from the Netherlands to the Russian Empire around 1763. In Russia the Van der Bellen family was ennobled, and Alexander Van der Bellen's grandfather, also named Alexander Van der Bellen, was a liberal politician who was head of the local government of Pskov before the Russian Revolution. In 1919 Van der Bellen's grandparents, father and uncles fled the Bolsheviks and settled in the newly independent Republic of Estonia. When Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940, Van der Bellen's parents Alexander and Alma Van der Bellen fled to Germany, where they ended up in a refugee camp. They eventually settled in Vienna, before again fleeing the Red Army and ending up in Tyrol, where Alexander Van der Bellen spent his childhood.[1] He has described himself as a "child of refugees."[3]

In 1962, he graduated from the Akademisches Gymnasium in Innsbruck. He studied economics at the University of Innsbruck and received a doctorate in 1970. From 1968 to 1970 he worked as assistant at the Institut für Finanzwissenschaft of the University of Innsbruck, and from 1972 to 1974 at the Internationales Institut für Management und Verwaltung in Berlin.[4] He achieved habilitation in 1975.

In 1976 he was appointed associate professor at the University of Innsbruck. In 1980, he became professor of economics at the University of Vienna. Subsequently, he took over the chair for economics there. From 1990 to 1994 he was dean of the faculty for social sciences and economics at the University of Vienna.[5]

A former member of the Austrian Social Democratic Party,[6] Van der Bellen became Member of the National Council of Austria (Nationalrat) for the Austrian Green Party in 1994.[1] In 1997 he became their federal spokesperson, and in 1999 chairman of the parliamentary club of the Greens in the National Council.[1] He resigned after the September 2008 election, when the Greens lost votes for the first time in a decade.[2] In 2010 he became Commissioner of the City of Vienna for Universities and Research,[7] and in 2012 he left Parliament and joined the Vienna City Council.[8]

In all popularity rankings, Van der Bellen has always scored much higher than the political party he represents; Austrians approve of his considerate conduct even during heated debates, his honesty, and last but not least his vast knowledge in the field of economics.

Van der Bellen was married and has two adult sons with his former wife. He is an avid fan of Scrooge McDuck comics and a self-confessed smoker.[9]

He is an independent presidential candidate for the 2016 presidential election.[10] He was not nominated by his party although they will financially support his campaign.

Awards

In May 2004, Van der Bellen received the "Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star for Services to the Republic of Austria " (Großes Goldenes Ehrenzeichen mit dem Stern für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich).[11][12]

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Biographical data". Die Grünen. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  2. 1 2 "Van der Bellen sichtlich bewegt".
  3. ↑ "Alexander Van der Bellen: Ein Flüchtlingskind". Die Zeit. 28 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Alexander Van der Bellen in the Aeiou Encyclopedia (German)
  5. ↑ "Dr. Alexander Van der Bellen". Who is who in the Austrian Parliament (in German). Republic of Austria. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Fischer končí – Rakousko volí novou hlavu státu". Novinky.cz.
  7. ↑ "Wiener Uni-Beauftragter stellt Ziele vor: Van der Bellen will "reden, reden, reden" (Vienna Commissioner for Universities presents his Goals)". 2011-02-23. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
  8. ↑ "Alexander Van der Bellen: Abschied aus dem Nationalrat". Kleine Zeitung (in German). 2012-07-06. Retrieved 2014-10-23. Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen verlässt den Nationalrat und wechselt in den Wiener Gemeinderat. (Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen leaving National Council of Austria (Nationalrat) to join Vienna City Council)
  9. ↑ "Der Geist ist willig, das Fleisch zu schwach". Der Standard (in German). 2007-05-01. Retrieved 2008-11-09. Alexander Van der Bellen (..) ist einer der wenigen bekennenden rauchenden PolitikerInnen. (Alexander Van der Bellen (..) is one of the few self-confessed smoking politicians.)
  10. ↑ "Van der Bellen kandidiert zur Präsidentschaftswahl" (in German). der Standard. 2016-01-08. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  11. ↑ "Ehrenzeichen für verdiente Mandatarinnen" (in German). Austrian Parliament. 2004-05-04. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  12. ↑ "Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour" (pdf) (in German). p. 1644. Retrieved November 2012.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by
Christoph Chorherr		 Leader of the Green Party
1997–2008 		Succeeded by
Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek
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