Jonas, Franz

(1899–1974)

   Mayor of Vienna from 1951 to 1965, when he was elected president of the Second Austrian Republic, Jonas played a crucial role in both the physical rebuilding of the capital and the political reconstruction of Austria generally. He had solid socialist credentials, having served as the secretary of the district branch of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party in Floridsdorf, a socialist redoubt in Vienna, from 1932 to 1934. He spent the year 1935–1936 in prison for his political activities. In 1946, Jonas became district leader of the Socialist Party of Austria in Floridsdorf; from 1948 to 1951, he supervised the municipal Bureau of Nutrition and Housing.

   Jonas was elected Austrian president twice. Running the second time in 1971, he defeated Kurt Waldheim. Jonas did not, however, live to complete his second term. While in office, he followed a generally conciliatory policy toward all of Austria’s constitutionally recognized political parties and contributed significantly to easing ideological tensions on all sides. He followed this path even after the contest in 1971 that left Austria for the first time since the end of World War II with a president and federal chancellor, Bruno Kreisky, from the same party.