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 Social Democratic Party
(Before 1992)
Green Party (1992–present)
Alma mater University of Innsbruck

Alexander Van der Bellen (born 18 January 1944) is an Austrian economist and politician, chairman of the parliamentary club and federal spokesperson of the Austrian Green Party from 1997[1] to 2008.[2]

Van der Bellen was born in Vienna and spent his childhood in Tyrol.[1] 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.[3] He achieved habilitation in 1975.

In 1976 he was appointed as professor extraordinarius at the University of Innsbruck; he later went to Vienna, where he taught from 1977 to 1980 as professor ordinarius for economics at the University of Vienna. Subsequently, he took over the chair for economics there.[1] From 1990 to 1994 he was dean of the faculty for social sciences and economics.

A former member of the Austrian Social Democratic Party, Van der Bellen became Member of the National Council of Austria (Nationalrat) for the Austrian Green Party in 1994.[1] Since 1997 he was their federal spokesperson, and since 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] Since 2010 he is Commissioner of the City of Vienna for Universities and Research,[4] and in 2012 he left Parliament and joined the Vienna City Council.[5]

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 is married and has two adult sons. He is an avid fan of Scrooge McDuck comics and a self-confessed smoker.[6]

He is an independent presidential candidate for the Austrian presidential election, 2016.[7] 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).[8][9]

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Biographical data". Die Grünen. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  2. 1 2 ORF.at
  3. ↑ Alexander Van der Bellen in the Aeiou Encyclopedia (German)
  4. ↑ "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.
  5. ↑ "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)
  6. ↑ "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.)
  7. ↑ "Van der Bellen kandidiert zur Präsidentschaftswahl" (in German). der Standard. 2016-01-08. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  8. ↑ "Ehrenzeichen für verdiente Mandatarinnen" (in German). Austrian Parliament. 2004-05-04. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  9. ↑ "Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour" (pdf) (in German). p. 1644. Retrieved November 2012.
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Party political offices
Preceded by
Christoph Chorherr		 Leader of the Green Party
1997–2008 		Succeeded by
Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek
Spokespersons of the Austrian Green Party
Johannes Voggenhuber - Peter Pilz - Madeleine Petrovic - Christoph Chorherr - Alexander Van der Bellen - Eva Glawischnig
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