Franz Jonas

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. He later attended the Wiener Arbeiterbildungszentrum where his instructors included fellow future presidents Karl Renner, Adolf Schärf, and Theodor Körner. where he served on the Eastern Front and the Italian front. He got a job as a typesetter at the end of the war in 1919 and continued in the profession until 1932. The typesetter shop where he had worked closed at this time, leaving him unemployed. Jonas won the election and was elected president on 23 May 1965.

In 1966, Jonas was awarded the Grand Cross of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav with Collar, and in 1969 the ÖOC Pierre de Coubertin Medal.

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. Jonas was popular among the public, to the point that SPÖ party leader Bruno Kreisky tried to make their names synonymous during the 1970 legislative election. 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. Jonas was reelected president on 25 April 1971. He received 2,488,372 votes, defeating ÖVP candidate Kurt Waldheim who received 2,225,368 votes. Jonas's second term began on 9 June 1971.

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. His visit to the United Kingdom received widespread attention as it was the first time a leader of a former Axis nation visited an Allied nation. 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. Jonas removed himself from his duties as president on 27 March 1974 following a diagnosis of stomach cancer. He died in a Vienna University clinic on 24 April 1974.