List of Austrians

"The following list is a selection of famous Austrians. For full lists of all famous Austrians please view the sublists."

Arts/culture

*Pauline de Metternich, patron of music and culture

Actors/Actresses

*Leon Askin, actor
*Klaus Maria Brandauer, actor
*Käthe Gold, stage actress
*Liane Haid, first Austrian movie star
*Hedy Lamarr, actress; also co-inventor of spread spectrum radio technology; became U.S. citizen
*Karl Merkatz, actor (most notable for his role as a Viennese in "Mundl")
*Hans Moser, comedy actor
*Maximilian Schell, actor
*Romy Schneider, actress
*Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilder, actor, became U.S. citizen, governor of the U.S. state of California (2003– )
*Erich von Stroheim, actor and film director
*Oskar Werner, actor

Artists/Architects

*Albin Egger-Lienz, painter
*Karl Ehn, architect, designer of the Karl-Marx-Hof.
*Ernst Fuchs, artist
*Gottfried Helnwein, artist, born in Vienna
*Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist
*Gustav Klimt, artist, helped found Vienna Secession
*Oskar Kokoschka, painter
*Alfred Kubin, graphic artist
*Adolf Loos, architect
*Hans Makart, history painter, designer and decorator
*Inge Morath, photographer
*Richard Neutra, architect
*Willy Puchner, photographer
*Arnulf Rainer, painter
*Johann Michael Rottmayr, Baroque painter
*Egon Schiele, painter
*Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, architect and political activist
*De Es Schwertberger, artist
*Harry Seidler, architect
*Helmut Skrdla, photographer
*Aloys Wach, painter
*Otto Wagner, Jugendstil architect behind much of turn-of-the-century Viennese architecture
*Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, painter
*Franz West, artist
*Olga Wisinger-Florian, painter

Composers/Musicians

*Alban Berg, composer
*Alfred Brendel, pianist
*Anton Bruckner, composer
*Carl Czerny, pianist and composer
*Anton Diabelli, publisher, editor and composer
*Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, composer
*Karlheinz Essl, composer and electronical musician
*Falco, pop musician
*Wolfgang Ambros, famous Austro pop musician
*Christian Fennesz, electronic musician
*Bernhard Gál, composer and artist
*Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
*Joseph Haydn, composer
*Michael Haydn, composer, younger brother of Joseph Haydn
*Klaus Hübler, composer
*Udo Jürgens, singer-songwriter
*Herbert von Karajan, conductor
*Bernhard Lang, composer
*Herbert Lauermann, composer and professor for composition
*Gustav Mahler, composer
*Penny McLean, singer with the disco group Silver Convention
*Leopold Mozart, composer and musician
*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer and musician
*Gerhard Potuznik, electronic musician
*Werner Raditschnig, composer and musician
*Arnold Schönberg, composer
*Franz Schubert, composer and musician
*Johann Strauss, Sr., composer
*Johann Strauss, Jr., composer
*Josef Strauss, composer
*Franz von Suppé, composer
*Anton Webern, composer
*Hugo Wolf, composer
*Joe Zawinul, jazz musician, composer
*Eric Zeisl (1905-1959) composer
*Alexander von Zemlinsky, composer

Entrepreneurs

*Ignaz Glaser, entrepreneur
*Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of Glock
*Niki Lauda, Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
*Richard Lugner, entrepreneur and society figure
*Dietrich Mateschitz, businessman behind the Red Bull brand
*Ferdinand Porsche, automotive engineer, designed the Volkswagen (the "people's car"), born in Austria-Hungary
*Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche, automotive engineer and entrepreneur, he expanded the sports car manufacturer Porsche AG to what it is now
*Bela Rabelbauer
*Johann Puch, inventor, mechanic, co-founder of Steyr-Daimler-Puch.
*Robert Schlumberger, entrepreneur
*Frank Stronach, (born in Austria), entrepreneur
*Daniel Swarovski, founder of Swarovski AG, world famous crystals
*Hannes Androsch, former minister of finance in the government of Bruno Kreisky
*Max Riedel, fine glass
* Albert Salomon von Rothschild, banker
* Alfons von Rothschild, banker
* Anselm von Rothschild, banker
* Eugène Daniel von Rothschild, investor
* Ferdinand James von Rothschild, investor
* Ludwig (Louis) von Nathaniel, banker
* Nathaniel Mayer Anselm von Rothschild, banker
* Salomon Mayer von Rothschild, banker

Filmmakers

*Amir Esmann, director, director of photography , writer
*Barbara Albert, film director, producer and writer
*Franz Antel, director, actor and writer
*Axel Corti, director
*Elfi von Dassanowsky, film producer, singer, pianist
*Andrea Maria Dusl, film director and writer
*Michael Glawogger, film director and writer
*Michael Haneke, film director (born in Germany, however lives and works in Austria)
*Fritz Lang, film director
*Otto Preminger, film director
*Ulrich Seidl, film director and writer
*Josef von Sternberg, film director
*Erich von Stroheim, director
*Hans Weingartner, film director, producer and writer
*Virgil Widrich, film director, producer and writer
*Billy Wilder, film director, born in Austria-Hungary
*Fred Zinnemann, film director

Mountaineers

*Peter Aufschnaiter, mountaineer and co-traveller of Heinrich Harrer (Seven Years in Tibet)
*Karl Blodig, mountaineer (first to climb all alpine mountains above 4000m)
*Hermann Buhl, first ascent of Nanga Parbat 1953, first ascent of Broad Peak
*Kurt Diemberger, first ascents of Broad Peak (1957) and Dhaulagiri (1960)
*Heinrich Harrer, mountaineer (first ascent of the Carstensz Pyramid) and writer (Seven Years in Tibet)
*Peter Habeler, first ascent of Mount Everest without oxygen (together with Reinhold Messner)
*Ludwig Purtscheller, first ascent of Kilimanjaro in 1889
*Marcus Schmuck, first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957 as expedition leader
*Herbert Tichy, geologist, journalist and mountaineer (first ascent of Cho Oyo)
*Luis Trenker, mountaineer, film director and writer (born in Tyrol, Austria-Hungary)
*Fritz Wintersteller, first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957

Military leaders

*Leopold Josef Graf Daun, Field marshall
*Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, military leader
*Prince Eugene of Savoy, general in the war against the Turks (17th-18th century)
*Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, admiral
*Alfred Fürst zu Windisch-Grätz, general
*Archduke Charles of Austria, fight against Napoleon

Politicians

*Viktor Adler, Social democrat
*Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni, statesman and diplomat
*Dr. Otto Bauer, Social democrat politician, writer and marxist ideologist
*Count Leopold von Berchtold, foreign minister at the outbreak of the First World War
*Richard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, politician and writer
*Engelbert Dollfuß, Chancellor 1932-1934 (First Republic), established Austrofascism
*Leopold Figl, Chancellor 1945-1953, foreign minister 1953-1959
*Heinz Fischer, current President (elected 2004)
*Alfred Gusenbauer, current Chancellor (since 2007), chairman of the Austrian Socialdemocrats
*Jörg Haider, right-wing populist politician, current governour of Carinthia
*Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany 1933-1945, gained German citizenship in 1932
*Joseph Hormayr Freiherr zu Hortenburg, statesman and historian
*Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, archbishop of Vienna 1932-1955, minister of social affairs 1929-1930
*Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Nazi politician
*Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz, statesman
*Rudolf Kirchschläger, judge, diplomat and President 1974-1986
*Thomas Klestil, diplomat, President 1992-2004
*Bruno Kreisky, Chancellor 1970-1983, first Jewish Austrian in that office
*Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, diplomat and statesman
*Julius Raab, Chancellor 1953-1961
*Karl Renner, Chancellor 1918-1920 and 1945, first President of the Second Republic 1945-1950
*Adolf Schärf, President 1957-1965
*Anton von Schmerling, statesman (liberal movement of the 19th century)
*Kurt Schuschnigg, Chancellor 1934-1938
*Wolfgang Schüssel, Chancellor 2000-2007
*Arnold Schwarzenegger, current governor of California
*Ignaz Seipel, Catholic priest, Chancellor 1922-1924 and 1926-1929
*Arthur Seyß-Inquart, Nazi politician, last Chancellor before the Anschluss in 1938
*Johann Philipp von Stadion, statesman, foreign minister and diplomat 1763- 1824
*Alexander van der Bellen, chairman of the Austrian Green Party
*Kurt Waldheim, diplomat and politician, Secretary-General of the United Nations 1972-1982, President of Austria 1986-1992

Religious leaders

*Ignaz Seipel, Catholic priest, Chancellor 1922-1924 and 1926-1929
*Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Archbishop of Vienna 1932-1955, minister of social affairs 1929-1930
*Franz Cardinal König, Archbishop of Vienna 1956-1985

Royalty

*Elisabeth, Empress-Consort of Austria, wife of Francis Joseph I.
*Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria
*Franz Ferdinand, Archduke (assassinated in 1914)
*Francis Joseph I, Emperor of Austria
*Francis II/I, Holy Roman Emperor, first Emperor of Austria
*Frederick II of Austria, last Babenberger duke of Austria
*Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, reformer (abolished the death penalty) 1780-1790
*Karl V, Holy Roman Emperor 1500-1558
*Karl I, last Emperor of Austria
*Leopold V, Babenberg duke of Austria, participated in the Third Crusade
*Maria Leopoldina, Archduchess, became Empress of Brazil
*Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria, Holy Roman Empress-Consort, last male-line Habsburg
*Marie Antoinette, Archduchess, became Queen of France
*Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1459-1519
*Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico, Archduke of Austria
*Rudolph I, King of Germany, first Habsburg king
*Rudolf IV of Austria, Duke of Austria, self-styled archduke 1358-1365 (Privilegium Maius)

cience

Economists

*Carl Menger, founder of the Austrian School of economics
*Friedrich von Wieser, economist of the Austrian School
*Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk economist and early member of the Austrian School of Economics
*Ludwig von Mises, free-market economist
*Friedrich Hayek, economist and social scientist, Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1974 (became a British citizen in 1938)
*Oskar Morgenstern, co-founder of game theory
*Otto Neurath, socialist, economist and philosopher
*Joseph Schumpeter, economist, born in Triesch, Austria-Hungary
*Jeffrey Herbener, economist, fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute

Engineers/Inventors

*Anselm Franz, pioneer in jet engine engineering, designed the world's first turbojet
*Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of GLOCK GmbH
*Hedy Lamarr, (known for research in frequencies, needed for mobile phones)
*Viktor Kaplan, inventor of turbines for river power plants
*Wilhelm Kress, aviation pioneer, inventor of the stick control for airplanes
*Josef Madersperger, invented the sewing machine in 1818
*Siegfried Marcus, automobile pioneer, inventor of the first gasoline powered automobile (vehicles of 1870 and 1889)
*Peter Mitterhofer, inventor of typewriter
*Alois Negrelli, engineer and railroad pioneer (created the plans for the Suez Canal)
*Ferdinand Porsche, automotive engineer, designed the Volkswagen (the "people's car"), inventor of the hybrid car, contributed to the design of the tiger I and tiger II tanks. born in Austria-Hungary
*Alois Senefelder, inventor of the printing technique of lithography
*Max Valier, rocketry pioneer
*Auer von Welsbach, inventor of gaslight
*Eduard Haas, inventor of PEZ
*Josef Ressel, inventor of the marine screw propeller, pneumatic post and ball bearing

Philosophers

*Franz Brentano, philosopher and psychologist
*Martin Buber, philosopher
*Christian von Ehrenfels, philosopher
*Herbert Feigl, philosopher (member of the Vienna Circle)
*Paul Feyerabend, philosopher (died 1994)
*Philipp Frank, philosopher and physicist(member of the Vienna Circle)
*Edmund Husserl, philosopher (born in Prossnitz, Austria-Hungary)
*Hans Köchler, philosopher (born in Schwaz, 1948)
*Alexius Meinong, philosopher (theory of objects) 1853-1920
*Otto Neurath, socialist, economist and philosopher
*Karl Popper, philosopher (born in Austria, became British)
*Otto Weininger, philosopher
*Friedrich Waismann, mathematician, philosopher and physicist (member of the Vienna Circle)
*Felix Weltsch, journalist, philosopher, student of Christian von Ehrenfels
*Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, born 1889 in Vienna

Physicists, mathematicians and chemists

*Emil Artin, mathematician (Artin's conjecture)
*Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist, 1844-1906, born in Vienna
*Carl Cori, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, biochemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947
*Christian Andreas Doppler, physicist, 1803-1853, born in Salzburg (See Doppler effect)
*Paul Ehrenfest, physicist & mathematician
*Felix Ehrenhaft, maverick physicist, 1879-1952
*Kurt Gödel, mathematician (born in Austria-Hungary, became naturalized U.S. citizen)
*Hans Hahn, mathematician (member of the Vienna Circle)
*Friedrich Hasenöhrl, physicist
*Victor Franz Hess, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
*Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, chemist
*Richard Kuhn, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1938
*Johann Josef Loschmidt, physicist and chemist
*Ernst Mach, physicist and philosopher (Mach number)
*Lise Meitner, physicist
*Richard von Mises, physicist (younger brother of Ludwig von Mises)
*Wolfgang Pauli, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics 1945
*Max Ferdinand Perutz, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1962
*Fritz Pregl, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1923
*Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
*Heinrich Franz Friedrich Tietze, mathematician
*Carl Auer von Welsbach, chemist
*Gernot Zippe, physicist (developed Zippe-type centrifuge to extract Uranium-235 for nuclear weapons)
*Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925

Physicians

*Alfred Adler, psychiatrist, father of "Individual Psychology"
*Hans Asperger, pediatrician (most known for work on autism; see Asperger's syndrome)
*Leopold Auenbrugger, physician 1722-1809 (method of percussion)
*Robert Bárány, physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
*Josef Breuer, physician (forerunner in psychoanalysis)
*Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow, physician and physiologist (studies of nerves and the brain)
*Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist, father of logotherapy
*Sigmund Freud, psychiatrist, father of psychoanalysis
*Karl von Frisch, physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
*Leo Kanner, child psychiatrist
*Karl Landsteiner, physician, serologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1886-1943
*Otto Loewi, pharmacologist (born in Germany, but spent 40 years (age 25-65) of his life in Austria) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
*Franz Mesmer, physician, developed an early form of hypnotism 1734-1815
*Paracelsus, (real name: Theophrast von Hohenheim), alchemist and physician
*Clemens von Pirquet, pediatrician and scientist in bacteriology and immunology
*Wilhelm Reich, psychiatrist, (1897-1957)
*Erwin Ringel, Austrian psychiatrist ("presuicidal syndrome")
*Ignaz Semmelweis, physician (born in Hungary, Austria-Hungary)
*Julius Wagner-Jauregg, physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1927

Psychologists

*Bruno Bettelheim, psychologist
*Otto Rank, pioneer psychologist
*Paul Watzlawick, communication theory

Other scientists

*Othenio Abel, paleontologist
*Hans Hass, biologist
*Hans Kelsen, jurist (father of the Austrian constitution)
*Konrad Lorenz zoologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
*Gregor Mendel, pioneer of genetics
*Julius Pokorny, linguist
*Rupert Riedl, zoologist

ports

*Gerhard Berger, racing driver
*Michaela Dorfmeister, alpine skier
*Erich Eliskases, chess grandmaster
*Toni Fritsch, soccer and football player who won the Super Bowl in 1972
*Ernst Grünfeld, chess grandmaster
*Ernst Happel, football player and coach.
*Hansi Hinterseer, skier, singer, actor, entertainer
*Franz Klammer, Olympic alpine ski champion
*Hans Krankl, football player and coach
*Niki Lauda, Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
*Hermann Maier, Olympic alpine ski champion
*Annemarie Moser-Pröll, alpine skier
*Thomas Muster, tennis champion
*Eva Pawlik, European figure skating Champion,
*Herbert Prohaska, football player and coach
*Jochen Rindt, race car driver, Formula One World Champion of 1970
*Toni Sailer, 1956 Olympic Games - won all three gold medals earning himself the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing; born 1935
*Prince Max Schaumburg-Lippe, Austria's first race car driver. Drove BMW and Mercedes.
*Gigi Rüf, snowboarder
*Carl Schlechter, chess grandmaster
*Nicole Trimmel, kickboxing champion
*Matthias Sindelar, regarded by many as Austria's greatest ever footballer.
*Rudolf Spielmann, chess grandmaster
*Herma Szabo, Olympic and five-time World figure skating champion
*Anita Wachter, Olympic alpine ski champion, born 1967 in Schruns.

Writers

*Ingeborg Bachmann, poet, 1926-1973
*Hermann Bahr, playwriter, novelist 1863-1934
*Ludwig Bemelmans, author of the Madeline books, 1898-1962.
*Thomas Bernhard, dramatist, novelist, poet, 1931-1989, born in Cloister Heerlen, Netherlands
*Max Brod, writer, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary 1884, wrote in German
*Elias Canetti, writer (born in Rousse, Bulgaria 1905), wrote in German, Nobel Prize in Literature 1981
*Otto Maria Carpeaux, literary critic and foremost historian of Literature, 1900-1978
*Paul Celan, poet (born in Romania, Austria-Hungary), wrote in German
*Heimito von Doderer, writer, 1896-1966, born in Hadersdorf-Weidlingau near Vienna
*Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, writer (style: psychological novelist)
*Alfred Fried, writer, pacifist and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1911
*Franz Grillparzer, poet, 1791-1872, Vienna
*Robert Hamerling, poet 1830-1889
*Peter Handke, author, born in 1942 in Griffen (Carinthia)
*Hugo von Hofmannsthal, dramatist, writer
*Elfriede Jelinek (born 1946), 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature
*Franz Kafka, writer
*Alexander Lernet-Holenia, novelist, poet, dramtist, critic, 1897-1976
*Robert Menasse, writer and publicist
*Robert Musil, writer
*Johann Nestroy, famous playwriter
*Christine Nöstlinger, writer (especially literature for children)
*Christoph Ransmayr, writer
*Ferdinand Raimund, writer and dramatist
*Rainer Maria Rilke, poet and novelist
*Peter Rosegger, writer 1843-1918
*Joseph Roth, writer (Radetzkymarsch)
*Arthur Schnitzler, writer
*Hilde Spiel, writer and journalist
*Adalbert Stifter, poet and artist (died 1869)
*Bertha von Suttner, writer and pacifist Nobel Peace Prize winner
*Friedrich Torberg, narrative writer, essayist, script author 1908-1979, born in Vienna
*Georg Trakl, poet
*Josef Weinheber, poet and essayist
*Franz Werfel, writer, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (wrote in German)
*Oswald von Wolkenstein, writer and composer 1376-1445
*Stefan Zweig, writer, 1881-1942, born in Vienna

Other notables

*Maria Altmann, niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer
*Robert Bernardis, resistance fighter during WW2 (July 20 Plot)
*Rudolph Bing, opera manager
*Adele Bloch-Bauer, subject of famous painting by Gustav Klimt
*Amon Göth, commander of Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp
*HI & RH Otto Von Habsburg-Lothringen Politician, writer, heir to the thrones of Austria-Hungary
*Tunc Hamarat, correspondence chess world champion (2004)
*Theodor Herzl, "father of Zionism," lived most of his life in Austria
*Andreas Hofer, Tyrolian freedom fighter (against Napoleon)
*Heinrich Kanner, journalist and editor of the newspaper "Die Zeit" in the k.u.k. Monarchy
*Franz Cardinal König, 1905-2004, Archbishop of Vienna (1956–1985)
*Alma Mahler, wife and muse to Mahler, Gropius, Werfel
*Andreas Maislinger, founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
*Julius von Payer, polar explorer
*Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef and restaurateur
*Ben Markham, wealthy Austrian businessman and traveller.
*Max Reinhardt, renowned theatre director
*Sister Maria Restituta, nun and nurse murdered by the Nazis
*Günther Schifter, radio personality
*Oskar Schindler, industrialist and famous WWII hero (saved his Jewish factory workers from Auschwitz)
*Christoph Schönborn, archbishop and cardinal
*Otto Skorzeny, Nazi commando (rescuer of Benito Mussolini)
*Wilhelm Steinitz, winner of first ever world chess championship in 1886
*Rudolf Muhs, philosopher, Nobel Prize in Peace, historian, eugenicist, politician.
*Carl Szokoll, resistance fighter ("saviour of Vienna"), author and film producer
*Georg Ritter von Trapp, head of "The Sound of Music" family
*Franz Viehböck, cosmonaut
*Karl Weyprecht, polar explorer
*Simon Wiesenthal, 1908–2005, pre-eminent Nazi hunter
*Katherine Schindle, founder of Imadumbsczer Press
*Oscar Baumann, explored the interior of German East Africa (present-day Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi)
*Josef Fritzl, news maker.

ee also

*List of Austrian Jews
*List of Germans
*List of Slovenians
*List of Hungarians
*List of Croatians
*List of Serbs
*List of Czechs
*List of Slovaks
*List of Poles
*List of people by nationality