100 Notable alumni of
University of Vienna
Updated:
The University of Vienna is 23rd in the world, 6th in Europe, and 1st in Austria by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of Vienna sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 3 individuals affiliated with the University of Vienna won Nobel Prizes in Physics and Physiology or Medicine.
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Sigmund Freud
- Occupations
- essayistpsychoanalystneurologist
- Biography
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Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in the psyche, through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst, and the distinctive theory of mind and human agency derived from it.
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Gregor Mendel
- Occupations
- beekeeperfriarbotanical collectorbotanistscientific collector
- Biography
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Gregor Johann Mendel OSA was an Austrian biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno (Brünn), Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel was born in a German-speaking family in the Silesian part of the Austrian Empire (today's Czech Republic) and gained posthumous recognition as the founder of the modern science of genetics. Though farmers had known for millennia that crossbreeding of animals and plants could favor certain desirable traits, Mendel's pea plant experiments conducted between 1856 and 1863 established many of the rules of heredity, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance.
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Sebastian Kurz
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 2005-2011
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Sebastian Kurz is an Austrian former politician who served twice as Chancellor of Austria, first from 2017 to 2019 and then again from 2020 to 2021.
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Stefan Zweig
- Occupations
- journalistliterary criticnovelistessayistplaywright
- Biography
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Stefan Zweig was an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world.
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Erwin Schrödinger
- Occupations
- university teacherphysicisttheoretical physicistnon-fiction writermathematician
- Biography
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Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger, sometimes written as Schroedinger or Schrodinger, was an Austrian–Irish theoretical physicist who developed fundamental results in quantum theory. In particular, he is recognized for devising the Schrödinger equation, an equation that provides a way to calculate the wave function of a system and how it changes dynamically in time. He coined the term "quantum entanglement" in 1935. Schrödinger shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with Paul Dirac "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory."
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Karl Popper
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1918
- In 1928 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- teacherphilosopher of scienceuniversity teachermathematiciansociologist
- Biography
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Sir Karl Raimund Popper CH FRS FBA was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the classical inductivist views on the scientific method in favour of empirical falsification made possible by his falsifiability criterion, and for founding the Department of Philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. According to Popper, a theory in the empirical sciences can never be proven, but it can be falsified, meaning that it can (and should) be scrutinised with decisive experiments. Popper was opposed to the classical justificationist account of knowledge, which he replaced with "the first non-justificational philosophy of criticism in the history of philosophy", namely critical rationalism.
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Viktor Frankl
- Occupations
- psychiatristaircraft pilotuniversity teacherneurologistexistential therapist
- Biography
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Viktor Emil Frankl was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor, who founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's meaning as the central human motivational force. Logotherapy is part of existential and humanistic psychology theories.
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Theodor Herzl
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied law
- Occupations
- playwrightliterary criticlawyerwriterpolitician
- Biography
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Theodor Herzl was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Due to his Zionist work, he is known in Hebrew as Chozeh HaMedinah (חוֹזֵה הַמְדִינָה), lit. 'Visionary of the State'. He is specifically mentioned in the Israeli Declaration of Independence and is officially referred to as "the spiritual father of the Jewish State".
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Paracelsus
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1509
- Occupations
- astrologerwriternaturalistphilosopherastronomer
- Biography
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Paracelsus, born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance.
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Friedrich Hayek
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1918-1923 studied economics, philosophy, and psychology
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in political science
- Occupations
- university teacherhistorianphilosopherpolitical scientisteconomist
- Biography
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Friedrich August von Hayek was an Austrian economist and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Gunnar Myrdal for work on money and economic fluctuations, and the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena. His account of how prices communicate information is widely regarded as an important contribution to economics that led to him receiving the prize. He was a major contributor to the Austrian school of economics.
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Billy Wilder
- Occupations
- film directorjournalistdirectorproducerwriter
- Biography
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Billy Wilder was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. Born in Sucha Beskidzka, at the time in Austria-Hungary (now Poland), Wilder's career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of classical Hollywood cinema. He received seven Academy Awards (among 21 nominations), a BAFTA Award, the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or and two Golden Globe Awards.
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Ignaz Semmelweis
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- In 1844 studied medicine
- Occupations
- botanistobstetricianuniversity teacherhygienistgynecologist
- Biography
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Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician and scientist of German descent who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures and was described as the "saviour of mothers". Postpartum infection, also known as puerperal fever or childbed fever, consists of any bacterial infection of the reproductive tract following birth and in the 19th century was common and often fatal. Semmelweis demonstrated that the incidence of infection could be drastically reduced by requiring healthcare workers in obstetrical clinics to disinfect their hands. In 1847, he proposed hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions at Vienna General Hospital's First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors' wards had thrice the mortality of midwives' wards. The maternal mortality rate dropped from 18% to less than 2%, and he published a book of his findings, Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever, in 1861.
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Mihai Eminescu
- Occupations
- journalistactorwriterprose writerpoet
- Biography
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Mihai Eminescu was a Romanian Romantic poet, novelist, and journalist from Moldavia, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul ("The Time"), the official newspaper of the Conservative Party (1880–1918). His poetry was first published when he was 16 and he went to Vienna, Austria to study when he was 19. The poet's manuscripts, containing 46 volumes and approximately 14,000 pages, were offered by Titu Maiorescu as a gift to the Romanian Academy during the meeting that was held on 25 January 1902. Notable works include Luceafărul, Odă în metru antic (Ode in Ancient Meter), and the five Letters (Epistles/Satires). In his poems, he frequently used metaphysical, mythological and historical subjects.
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Alfred Adler
- Occupations
- ophthalmologistpsychiatristpsychotherapist
- Biography
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Alfred Adler was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, and birth order set him apart from Freud and others in their common circle. He proposed that contributing to others (social interest or Gemeinschaftsgefühl) was how the individual feels a sense of worth and belonging in the family and society. His earlier work focused on inferiority, coining the term inferiority complex, an isolating element which he argued plays a key role in personality development. Alfred Adler considered a human being as an individual whole, and therefore he called his school of psychology "individual psychology".
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Kurt Gödel
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1923-1929
- Occupations
- university teacherphysicistcomputer scientistphilosophermathematician
- Biography
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Kurt Friedrich Gödel was a logician, mathematician, and philosopher. Considered along with Aristotle and Gottlob Frege to be one of the most significant logicians in history, Gödel profoundly influenced scientific and philosophical thinking in the 20th century (at a time when Bertrand Russell, Alfred North Whitehead, and David Hilbert were using logic and set theory to investigate the foundations of mathematics), building on earlier work by Frege, Richard Dedekind, and Georg Cantor.
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Karl Landsteiner
- Occupations
- pathologistuniversity teacherbiologistphysiologistimmunologist
- Biography
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Karl Landsteiner ForMemRS was an Austrian-American biologist, physician, and immunologist. He emigrated with his family to New York in 1923 at the age of 55 for professional opportunities, working for the Rockefeller Institute.
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Edmund Husserl
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1881-1883 graduated with Doctor in mathematics
- Occupations
- mathematicianphilosopheruniversity teacherphenomenologist
- Biography
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Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of phenomenology.
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Joseph Schumpeter
- Occupations
- university teacherpolitical economistanthropologistbook collectoreconomist
- Biography
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Joseph Alois Schumpeter was an Austrian political economist. He served briefly as Finance Minister of Austria in 1919. In 1932, he emigrated to the United States to become a professor at Harvard University, where he remained until the end of his career, and in 1939 obtained American citizenship.
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Michael Haneke
- Occupations
- film directordirectoruniversity teacherwriterfilm critic
- Biography
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Michael Haneke is a German-born Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, German, and English and has worked in television and theatre. He also teaches film direction at the Film Academy Vienna.
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Ludwig von Mises
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1900-1906 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in law
- Occupations
- writereconomistphilosopheruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian and American political economist and philosopher of the Austrian school. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the social contributions of classical liberalism and the central role of consumers in a market economy. He is best known for his work in praxeology, particularly for studies comparing communism and capitalism, as well as for being a defender of classical liberalism in the face of rising illiberalism and authoritarianism throughout much of Europe during the 20th century.
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Lise Meitner
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1901-1906 graduated with doctorate in physics
- Occupations
- physicistchemistuniversity teachernuclear physicist
- Biography
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Elise "Lise " Meitner was an Austrian and Swedish nuclear physicist who was instrumental in the discovery of nuclear fission.
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Ivan Franko
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in philosophy
- Occupations
- journalistliterary critictranslator of Adam Mickiewiczeconomistplaywright
- Biography
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Ivan Yakovych Franko PhD was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, translator, economist, political activist, ethnographer, and the author of the first detective novels and modern poetry in Ukrainian.
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Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1872-1876
- Occupations
- sociologistuniversity teacherpedagoguewriterphilosopher
- Biography
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Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk was a Czechoslovak statesman, political activist and philosopher who served as the first president of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1935. He is regarded as the founding father of Czechoslovakia.
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Huldrych Zwingli
- Occupations
- writertranslatortheologianpreacherpriest
- Biography
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Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly center of Renaissance humanism. He continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln, where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus. During his tenures at Basel and Einsiedeln, Zwingli began to familiarize himself with many criticisms Christian institutions were facing regarding their reform guidance and garnered scripture which aimed to address such criticisms.
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Ivo Andrić
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- In 1913 studied philosophy
- Occupations
- poetwriternovelistessayistshort story writer
- Biography
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Ivo Andrić was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under Ottoman rule.
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Ludwig Boltzmann
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1863-1866 graduated with Doctor
- Occupations
- chemisttheoretical physicistuniversity teachermathematicianphilosopher
- Biography
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Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann was an Austrian mathematician and theoretical physicist. His greatest achievements were the development of statistical mechanics and the statistical explanation of the second law of thermodynamics. In 1877 he provided the current definition of entropy, S = k B ln Ω {\displaystyle S=k_{\rm {B}}\ln \Omega }, where Ω is the number of microstates whose energy equals the system's energy, interpreted as a measure of the statistical disorder of a system. Max Planck named the constant kB the Boltzmann constant.
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Konrad Lorenz
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1923-1928 graduated with Doctor of Medicine
- In 1933 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in zoology
- Occupations
- zoologistpsychologistbiologistuniversity teacherwriter
- Biography
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Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded as one of the founders of modern ethology, the study of animal behavior. He developed an approach that began with an earlier generation, including his teacher Oskar Heinroth.
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Jörg Haider
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1969-1973 graduated with Doctor of Laws in legal science and political science and government
- Occupations
- lawyerbusinesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Jörg Haider was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, BZÖ), a breakaway party from the FPÖ.
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Alcide De Gasperi
- Occupations
- journalistdiplomatlinguistpolitician
- Biography
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Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi was an Italian politician and statesman who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 to 1953.
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Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi
- Years
- 1894-1972 (aged 78)
- Occupations
- philosopherwriterpolitician
- Biography
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Richard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi, was a politician, philosopher, and count of Coudenhove-Kalergi. A pioneer of European integration, he served as the founding president of the Paneuropean Union for 49 years. His parents were Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat, and Mitsuko Aoyama, the daughter of an oil merchant, antiques-dealer and major landowner in Tokyo. His childhood name in Japan was Eijiro Aoyama (青山 栄次郎). Being a native Austrian-Hungarian citizen, he became a Czechoslovak citizen in 1919 and then took French citizenship from 1939 until his death.
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Hans Asperger
- Occupations
- psychiatristuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Johann Friedrich Karl Asperger was an Austrian physician. Noted for his early studies on atypical neurology, specifically in children, he is the namesake of the autism spectrum disorder, Asperger syndrome. He wrote more than 300 publications on psychological disorders that posthumously acquired international renown in the 1980s. His diagnosis of autism, which he termed "autistic psychopathy", garnered controversy.
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Otto Preminger
- Occupations
- film producerfilm actorfilm directortelevision actoractor
- Biography
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Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre, and was one of the most influential directors in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, twice for Best Director and once for Best Picture, among many other accolades.
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Martin Buber
- Occupations
- university teachertheologianliterary editoreducatorpedagogue
- Biography
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Martin Buber was an Austrian-Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I–Thou relationship and the I–It relationship. Born in Vienna, Buber came from a family of observant Jews, but broke with Jewish custom to pursue secular studies in philosophy. He produced writings about Zionism and worked with various bodies within the Zionist movement extensively over a nearly 50-year period spanning his time in Europe and the Near East. In 1923, Buber wrote his famous essay on existence, Ich und Du (later translated into English as I and Thou), and in 1925 he began translating the Hebrew Bible into the German language.
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Hans Kelsen
- Occupations
- university teacherlawyerjudgephilosopherjurist
- Biography
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Hans Kelsen was an Austrian and later American jurist, legal philosopher and political philosopher. He is known principally for his theory of law, which he named the "pure theory of law (Reine Rechtslehre)", and for his writings on international law and theory of democracy.
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Herbert Kickl
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Herbert Kickl is an Austrian politician who has been leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) since June 2021. He previously served as minister of the interior from 2017 to 2019 and general-secretary of the FPÖ from 2005 to 2018. In the 2024 Austrian legislative election, the FPÖ became Austria's strongest party for the first time in history. Kickl negotiated with the Austrian People's Party in early 2025 but was unable to form a government. He is the leader of the opposition in the National Council. Kickl advocates a Fortress Austria and remigration. Some political analysts believe he has radicalized his party.
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Roger Willemsen
- Occupations
- news presenterjournalisttelevision presenterlinguistwriter
- Biography
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Roger Willemsen was a German author, essayist and TV presenter.
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Arthur Schnitzler
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied medicine
- Occupations
- physician writerwriterplaywrightfilm screenwritertelevision writer
- Biography
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Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives, dissected turn-of-the-century Viennese bourgeois life, making him a sharp and stylistically conscious chronicler of Viennese society around 1900. Schnitzler's Jewish upbringing and the sexual content of his works made them controversial or banned in his time and beyond.
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Elfriede Jelinek
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1967
- Occupations
- playwrightliterary criticlibrettistwritertranslator
- Biography
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Elfriede Jelinek is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors to write in German and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that, with extraordinary linguistic zeal, reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power". She is considered to be among the most important living playwrights of the German language.
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İlber Ortaylı
- Occupations
- historianmilitary historianart historianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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İlber Ortaylı is a Turkish historian and professor of history of Crimean Tatar origin at the MEF University, Galatasaray University in Istanbul and at Bilkent University in Ankara. In 2005, he was appointed as the director of the Topkapı Museum in Istanbul, until he retired in 2012.
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Elias Canetti
- Occupations
- chemistplaywrightwriteressayistnovelist
- Biography
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Elias Canetti was a German-language writer, known as a modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and nonfiction writer. Born in Ruse, Bulgaria, to a Sephardic Jewish family, he later lived in England, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. He won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power". He is noted for his nonfiction book Crowds and Power, among other works.
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Melanie Klein
- Occupations
- psychoanalyst
- Biography
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Melanie Klein was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Klein's work primarily focused on the role of ambivalence and moral ambiguity in human development. Klein suggested that pre-verbal existential anxiety in infancy catalyzed the formation of the unconscious, which resulted in the unconscious splitting of the world into good and bad idealizations. In her theory, how the child resolves that split depends on the constitution of the child and the character of nurturing the child experiences. The quality of resolution can inform the presence, absence, and/or type of distresses a person experiences later in life.
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Ernst Mach
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1855-1860
- Occupations
- pedagogueprofessorphilosopherpoliticianphotographer
- Biography
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Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach was an Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher who contributed to the understanding of the physics of shock waves. The ratio of the speed of a flow or object to that of sound is named the Mach number in his honor. As a philosopher of science, he was a major influence on logical positivism and American pragmatism. Through his criticism of Isaac Newton's theories of space and time, he foreshadowed Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.
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Joseph Roth
- Occupations
- playwrightwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Moses Joseph Roth was an Austrian journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga Radetzky March (1932), about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his novel of Jewish life Job (1930) and his seminal essay "Juden auf Wanderschaft" (1927; translated into English as The Wandering Jews), a fragmented account of the Jewish migrations from eastern to western Europe in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution. In the 21st century, publications in English of Radetzky March and of collections of his journalism from Berlin and Paris created a revival of interest in Roth.
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Franz Anton Mesmer
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1759-1766 studied medicine
- Occupations
- physicianmagnetizerastronomer
- Biography
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Franz Anton Mesmer was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorized the existence of a process of natural energy transference occurring between all animate and inanimate objects; this he called "animal magnetism", later referred to as mesmerism. Mesmer's theory attracted a wide following between about 1780 and 1850, and continued to have some influence until the end of the 19th century. In 1843, the Scottish doctor James Braid proposed the term "hypnotism" for a technique derived from animal magnetism; today the word "mesmerism" generally functions as a synonym of "hypnosis". Mesmer also supported the arts, specifically music; he was on friendly terms with Haydn and Mozart.
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Karel Schwarzenberg
- Occupations
- entrepreneurdiplomatforeign ministerpolitician
- Biography
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Karel Schwarzenberg was a Czech politician, diplomat and statesman who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic from 2007 to 2009 and then again between 2010 and 2013. Schwarzenberg was leader and co-founder of the TOP 09 party and its candidate for president of the Czech Republic in the 2013 election. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 2010 to 2021 and in the Senate from 2004 until 2010.
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Hugo von Hofmannsthal
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied law and classical philology
- Occupations
- playwrightlibrettistcomposerwriterpoet
- Biography
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Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.
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Paul Walker
- Occupations
- university teacherscholarphilosopher
- Biography
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Paul Karl Feyerabend was an Austrian philosopher best known for his work in the philosophy of science. He started his academic career as lecturer in the philosophy of science at the University of Bristol (1955–1958); afterward, he moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught for three decades (1958–1989). At various points in his life, he held joint appointments at the University College London (1967–1970), the London School of Economics (1967), the FU Berlin (1968), Yale University (1969), the University of Auckland (1972, 1975), the University of Sussex (1974), and the ETH Zurich (1980–1990). He gave lectures and lecture series at the University of Minnesota (1958–1962), Stanford University (1967), the University of Kassel (1977), and the University of Trento (1992).
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Karl Kautsky
- Occupations
- economistjournalistphilosopherpolitician
- Biography
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Karl Johann Kautsky was an Austrian-born Marxist theorist. One of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels in 1895, he was for decades the leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Second International. His influence was so pervasive that he was often called the "Pope of Marxism", with his views remaining dominant until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. His influence extended beyond Germany, shaping the development of Marxism in the Russian Empire, where he was seen by figures like Vladimir Lenin as the leading authority on Marxist theory.
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Christian Kern
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- In 1997 graduated with magister degree in communication science and science of journalism
- Studied science of journalism, sociology, political science, and communication science
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Christian Kern is an Austrian businessman and former politician who served as Chancellor of Austria from 17 May 2016 to 18 December 2017 and chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 25 June 2016 to 25 September 2018.
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Money Boy
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- In 2008 graduated with magister degree in science of journalism and communication studies
- Occupations
- singerrapper
- Biography
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Sebastian Meisinger, better known by his stage name Money Boy, is an Austrian rapper and singer. He became famous with his hit "Dreh den Swag auf".
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Joseph von Eichendorff
- Occupations
- poet lawyerplaywrightwritertranslatornovelist
- Biography
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Joseph Karl Benedikt Freiherr von Eichendorff was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism. Ever since their publication and up to the present day, some of his works have been very popular in German-speaking Europe.
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Alexander Schallenberg
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1989-1994 studied jurisprudence
- Occupations
- juristpolitician
- Biography
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Alexander Georg Nicolas Schallenberg is an Austrian diplomat, jurist, and politician who served as the minister of foreign affairs from 2019 until 2025, briefly interrupted by a period from October until December 2021, when he served as 27th chancellor of Austria, a role he served in an acting capacity again from January to March 2025.
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Anton Webern
- Occupations
- classical composerconductormusiciancomposer
- Biography
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Anton Webern was an Austrian avant-garde composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonal and twelve-tone techniques. His approach was typically rigorous, inspired by his studies of the Franco-Flemish School under Guido Adler and by Arnold Schoenberg's emphasis on structure in teaching composition from the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, the First Viennese School, and Johannes Brahms. Webern, Schoenberg, and their colleague Alban Berg were at the core of what became known as the Second Viennese School.
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Verena Altenberger
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Verena Altenberger is an Austrian actress. She is known for having played the lead role in the 2017 film The Best of All Worlds (Die beste aller Welten).
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Karl Kraus
- Occupations
- literary criticjournalistopinion journalistwritertranslator
- Biography
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Karl Kraus was an Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He directed his satire at the press, German culture, and German and Austrian politics. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.
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Fred Zinnemann
- Occupations
- directorfilm directorproducerfilm producerphotographer
- Biography
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Alfred Zinnemann was an Austrian and American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Austria-Hungary and educated in France and Germany, Zinnemann began his career in Europe before emigrating to the US, where he specialized in shorts before making 25 feature films during his 50-year career. He won four Academy Awards, both for directing and producing, and made films in a variety of genres including thrillers, westerns, film noir, and stage adaptations.
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Bruno Kreisky
- Occupations
- lawyerdiplomatwar correspondentpolitician
- Biography
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Bruno Kreisky was an Austrian social democratic politician who served as foreign minister from 1959 to 1966 and as chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72, he was the oldest chancellor after World War II.
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Brigitte Bierlein
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- In 1971 graduated with Doctor of Laws
- Occupations
- juristjudgepolitician
- Biography
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Brigitte Bierlein was an Austrian jurist who served as President of the Constitutional Court from 2018 to 2019 and as Chancellor of Austria from 2019 to 2020. An independent, she was the first woman to hold either office.
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Franziska Weisz
- Occupations
- film actoractorstage actor
- Biography
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Franziska Weisz is an Austrian actress. She starred in the film Hotel, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
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Karin Kneissl
- Occupations
- journalistdiplomatopinion journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Karin Kneissl is an Austrian diplomat, journalist, and politician. She served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2017 and 2019. Prior to assuming her government position, she was a lecturer.
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Otto Weininger
- Occupations
- philosopherpsychologistwriter
- Biography
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Otto Weininger was an Austrian philosopher who in 1903 published the book Geschlecht und Charakter (Sex and Character), which gained popularity after his suicide at the age of 23. Weininger had a strong influence on Ludwig Wittgenstein, August Strindberg, and, via his lesser-known work Über die letzten Dinge, on James Joyce.
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Daniel Kehlmann
- Occupations
- novelistwritertranslator
- Biography
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Daniel Kehlmann is a German-language novelist and playwright of both Austrian and German nationality.
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Georg Trakl
- Occupations
- poetwriterpharmacist
- Biography
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Georg Trakl was an Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists. He is perhaps best known for his poem "Grodek", which he wrote shortly before he died of a cocaine overdose at the age of 27.
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France Prešeren
- Occupations
- poet lawyerpoetlawyer
- Biography
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France Prešeren was a Slovene poet whose works are widely considered some of the most important in Slovene literature. His poems have been translated into many languages.
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Pamela Rendi-Wagner
- Occupations
- chairman of the Social Democratic Partycivil servantpoliticianphysicianwomen's rights activist
- Biography
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Pamela Rendi-Wagner is an Austrian physician and politician who is the current director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and who previously served as chairwoman of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) from 2018 to 2023. She was the first woman to lead the SPÖ.
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Lucian Blaga
- Occupations
- philosopherjournalistuniversity teacherdiplomatlinguist
- Biography
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Lucian Blaga was a Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He is one of the most important philosophers and poets of Romania, and a prominent philosopher of the interwar period in Eastern Europe who, due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his career, is barely known to the outside world.
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Christian Doppler
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1826-1829
- Occupations
- pedagogueprofessorastronomermathematicianacademic
- Biography
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Christian Andreas Doppler was an Austrian mathematician and physicist. He formulated the principle – now known as the Doppler effect – that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer.
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Josef Breuer
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- In 1867 studied medicine
- Occupations
- university teacherpsychoanalystphilosopherphysiologistphysician
- Biography
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Josef Breuer was an Austrian physician who made discoveries in neurophysiology, and whose work during the 1880s with his patient Bertha Pappenheim, known as Anna O., led to the development of the "cathartic method" (also referred to as the "talking cure") for psychiatric disorders. The method was a major initiatory factor for psychoanalysis, as developed by Breuer's friend and collaborator Sigmund Freud.
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Ludwig von Bertalanffy
- Occupations
- biologistphysiologistphilosopheruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy was an Austrian biologist known as one of the founders of general systems theory (GST). This is an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, applicable to biology, cybernetics and other fields. Bertalanffy proposed that the classical laws of thermodynamics might be applied to closed systems, but not necessarily to "open systems" such as living things. His mathematical model of an organism's growth over time, published in 1934, is still in use today.
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Carl Menger
- Occupations
- professoreconomist
- Biography
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Carl Menger von Wolfensgrün was an Austrian economist who contributed to the marginal theory of value. Menger is considered the founder of the Austrian school of economics.
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Heinz Fischer
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 1956-1961 graduated with Doctor of Laws in legal science and political science and government
- Occupations
- university teacherjuristpolitician
- Biography
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Heinz Fischer is an Austrian politician who served as the president of Austria from 2004 to 2016. Fischer previously served as minister for science from 1983 to 1987 and as president of the National Council of Austria from 1990 to 2002. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) until 2004, he suspended his party membership as he became president.
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Christoph Schönborn
- Occupations
- university teacherCatholic priesttheologianwriterLatin Catholic bishop
- Biography
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Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert Schönborn, OP is a Bohemian-born Austrian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Vienna from 1995 until 2025. He was chairman of the Austrian Bishops' Conference from 1998 to 2020 and was made a cardinal in 1998. He is a member of the Dominican Order.
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Robert Bunsen
- Occupations
- chemistteacherphysicistexperimentalistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium in 1860 and rubidium in 1861 with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bunsen–Kirchhoff Award for spectroscopy is named after Bunsen and Kirchhoff.
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Helmuth James Graf von Moltke
- Occupations
- juristlawyerresistance fighter
- Biography
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Helmuth James Graf von Moltke was a German jurist who, as a draftee in the German Abwehr, acted to subvert German human-rights abuses of people in territories occupied by Germany during World War II. He was a founding member of the Kreisau Circle opposition group, whose members opposed the government of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, and discussed prospects for a Germany based on moral and democratic principles after Hitler. The Nazis executed him for treason for his participation in these discussions.
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Ernst Gombrich
- Occupations
- aestheticianwriterhistorianart historianprofessor
- Biography
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Sir Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich OM CBE FBA was an Austrian-born art historian who, after settling in England in 1936, became a naturalised British citizen in 1947 and spent most of his working life in the United Kingdom.
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Anton Zeilinger
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- In 1971 graduated with Doctor of Natural Sciences
- Occupations
- quantum physicistphysicistnon-fiction writeruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Anton Zeilinger is an Austrian quantum physicist and Nobel laureate in physics of 2022. Zeilinger is professor of physics emeritus at the University of Vienna and senior scientist at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Most of his research concerns the fundamental aspects and applications of quantum entanglement.
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Paul Ehrenfest
- Occupations
- mathematiciantheoretical physicistphysicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Paul Ehrenfest was an Austrian theoretical physicist who made major contributions to statistical mechanics and its relation to quantum mechanics, including the theory of phase transition and the Ehrenfest theorem. He befriended Albert Einstein on a visit to Prague in 1912 and became a professor in Leiden, where he frequently hosted Einstein. Suffering from depression, in 1933 Ehrenfest killed his disabled son, Wassik, and then himself.
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Adalbert Stifter
- Occupations
- teacherpainterwriterpreservationistpoet
- Biography
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Adalbert Stifter was a Bohemian-Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing and has long been popular in the German-speaking world.
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Werner Faymann
- Occupations
- consultanttaxi driverpolitician
- Biography
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Werner Faymann is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening criticism within his party.
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Otto Rank
- Occupations
- psychoanalystpsychologistexistential therapist
- Biography
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Otto Rank was an Austrian psychoanalyst, writer, and philosopher. Born in Vienna, he became one of Sigmund Freud's closest collaborators, served as secretary of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, and edited leading psychoanalytic journals while publishing studies of myth and creativity. His book The Trauma of Birth (1924) proposed that the anxiety of birth precedes the Oedipus complex, coined the term "pre-Oedipal," and triggered a decisive break with Freud's developmental theory. Rank established psychotherapy practices in Paris and New York, where he promoted relationship-based treatment that emphasized emotional presence in the analytic encounter. He influenced existential and humanistic therapy, social work, and action learning, and his ideas on creativity and the double continue to inform psychological and cultural criticism.
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George Pólya
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1910-1911
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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George Pólya was a Hungarian-American mathematician. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at ETH Zürich and from 1940 to 1953 at Stanford University. He made fundamental contributions to combinatorics, number theory, numerical analysis and probability theory. He is also noted for his work in heuristics and mathematics education. He has been described as one of The Martians, an informal category which included one of his most famous students at ETH Zurich, John von Neumann.
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Beate Meinl-Reisinger
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1996-2002
- Occupations
- tour guidejuristpolitician
- Biography
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Beate Meinl-Reisinger is an Austrian politician serving as Minister for European and International Affairs since March 2025. She has been party leader of the NEOS since June 2018.
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Percy Lavon Julian
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- chemist
- Biography
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Percy Lavon Julian was an American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. Julian was the first person to synthesize the natural product physostigmine, and a pioneer in industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones progesterone and testosterone from plant sterols such as stigmasterol and sitosterol. His work laid the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of cortisone, other corticosteroids, and artificial hormones that led to birth control pills.
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Fritjof Capra
- Occupations
- writerenvironmentalistphysicistdocumentary participant
- Biography
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Fritjof Capra is an Austrian-born American author, physicist, systems theorist and deep ecologist. In 1995, he became a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California. He was on the faculty of Schumacher College which was disestablished in 2024.
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Alfred Schütz
- Occupations
- university teacherwriterphilosophermusicologistsociologist
- Biography
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Alfred Schutz was an Austrian philosopher and social phenomenologist whose work bridged sociological and phenomenological traditions. Schutz is gradually being recognized as one of the 20th century's leading philosophers of social science. He related Edmund Husserl's work to the social sciences, using it to develop the philosophical foundations of Max Weber's sociology, in his major work Phenomenology of the Social World. However, much of his influence arose from the publication of his Collected Papers in the 1960s.
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Walter Kohl
- Occupations
- economistwriterentrepreneur
- Biography
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Walter Kohl is a German financial analyst, businessman and author. He is the elder of the two sons of the former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Hannelore Kohl, and the brother of Peter Kohl.
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Richard von Krafft-Ebing
- Occupations
- philosopheruniversity teacherauthorwriterpsychiatrist
- Biography
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Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing was a German psychiatrist and author of the foundational work Psychopathia Sexualis (1886).
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Adam Stefan Sapieha
- Occupations
- Catholic deaconCatholic priestpoliticianCatholic bishoptheologian
- Biography
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Prince Adam Stefan Stanisław Bonifacy Józef Sapieha was a Polish Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Kraków from 1911 to 1951. A member of the Polish nobility, between 1922 and 1923 he was a senator of the Second Polish Republic. In 1946, Pope Pius XII made him a cardinal.
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Abraham Wald
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1927-1931
- Occupations
- university teacherresearch scientistmathematicianstatisticianeconomist
- Biography
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Abraham Wald was a Hungarian and American mathematician and statistician who contributed to decision theory, geometry and econometrics, and founded the field of sequential analysis. One of his well-known statistical works was written during World War II on how to minimize the damage to bomber aircraft and took into account the survivorship bias in his calculations. He spent his research career at Columbia University. He was the grandson of Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner.
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Helmut Qualtinger
- Occupations
- television actorwriterfilm actorcabaret performerstage actor
- Biography
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Helmut Gustav Friedrich Qualtinger was an Austrian actor, cabaret performer, writer and reciter.
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Franz Grillparzer
- Occupations
- writerplaywrightpoetpolitician
- Biography
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Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He also wrote the oration for his longtime friend Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral, as well as the epitaph for his friend Franz Schubert.
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Nataša Pirc Musar
- Occupations
- juristjournalistpublic relations officerpolitician
- Biography
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Nataša Pirc Musar is a Slovenian attorney, author, and politician serving as President of Slovenia since 2022. She is a former Information Commissioner (2004–2014), a former journalist, and former president of the Slovenian Red Cross (2015–2016).
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Josef Hoffmann
- Occupations
- sculptorarchitectjewelry designerinterior designerteacher
- Biography
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Josef Hoffmann was an Austrian-Moravian architect and designer. He was among the founders of Vienna Secession and co-establisher of the Wiener Werkstätte. His most famous architectural work is the Stoclet Palace, in Brussels, (1905–1911) a pioneering work of Modern Architecture, Art Deco and peak of Vienna Secession architecture.
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Karl von Frisch
- Occupations
- entomologistbeekeeperuniversity teacherethologist
- Biography
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Karl Ritter von Frisch, ForMemRS was a German-Austrian ethologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973, along with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz.
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Gernot Blümel
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 2002-2009 studied philosophy
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Gernot Blümel is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He served as Austria's finance minister from 2020 to 2021, having announced his resignation shortly after Alexander Schallenberg's resignation on 2 December 2021. Since 2015, he has been the chairman of the Vienna branch of the ÖVP. Prior, he was Chancellery minister for European Affairs, Art, Culture, and Media from 2017 to 2019; he was also General Secretary of the ÖVP from 2013 to 2015.
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Alma Zadić
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- 2003-2007 graduated with Magister Juris in legal science
- Graduated with Doctor of Laws in legal science
- Occupations
- lawyerenvironmentalistpolitician
- Biography
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Alma Zadić is a Bosnian-born Austrian lawyer and politician of the Green Party. She served as Minister of Justice from 7 January 2020 until 3 March 2025 in the governments of Chancellors Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg and Karl Nehammer.
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Sándor Ferenczi
- Enrolled in the University of Vienna
- Studied in 1890-1894
- Occupations
- psychoanalystneurologist
- Biography
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Sándor Ferenczi was a Hungarian psychoanalyst, a key theorist of the psychoanalytic school and a close associate of Sigmund Freud.
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Hermann Broch
- Occupations
- essayistprose writerwriterphilosopherplaywright
- Biography
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Hermann Broch was an Austrian writer, best known for two major works of modernist fiction: The Sleepwalkers (Die Schlafwandler, 1930–32) and The Death of Virgil (Der Tod des Vergil, 1945).
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Thomas Klestil
- Occupations
- diplomateconomistpolitician
- Biography
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Thomas Klestil was an Austrian diplomat and politician who served as the president of Austria from 1992 until his death in 2004. He was elected in 1992 and re-elected in 1998.
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Wolfgang Schüssel
- Occupations
- juristpolitician
- Biography
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Wolfgang Schüssel is a retired Austrian politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007. While being recognised as a rare example of an active reformer in contemporary Austrian politics, his governments were also highly controversial from the beginning, starting with the fact that he formed a coalition government with Jörg Haider's Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) on both occasions. In 2011, he retired from being an active member of parliament due to a multitude of charges of corruption against members of his governments.
