Doris Schmidauer
Doris Schmidauer | |
|---|---|
 Schmidauer in December 2016 | |
| First Lady of Austria | |
| Assumed office January 26, 2017 | |
| President | Alexander Van der Bellen |
| Preceded by | Margit Fischer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 21, 1963 Grieskirchen, Austria |
| Political party | The Greens – The Green Alternative |
| Spouse | Alexander Van der Bellen (married 2015) |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
Doris Schmidauer (born September 21, 1963) is an Austrian environmentalist and party official for The Greens – The Green Alternative. Schmidauer has served as the First Lady of Austria since January 2017 as the wife of Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.[1][2]
Biography
Doris Schmidauer was born in Grieskirchen, Upper Austria, on September 21, 1963, to Doris and Ernst Schmidauer.[1][3][4] Her father, Ernst Schmidauer (1934–2018), was a school director at Johann Eisterer State School and a brass band conductor.[1][4] Schmidauer was raised in Peuerbach, a small town in Grieskirchen District.[1] She attended primary school in Peuerbach and graduated from a girls' high school in the city of Wels in June 1982.[1][3]
Schmidauer moved to Vienna, where she graduated with a degree in political science from the University of Vienna in 1988.[1][3] Her thesis dealt with the history of teh Österreichischen Nitrogenwerke AG.[1] As a student, Schmidauer participated in the 1984 Occupation of the Hainburger Au, to help preserve a large flood plain and wetlands area near Vienna.[1] She credits the campaign to save the Hainburger Au as the beginning of her work in ecology and environmentalism.[1] The Hainburger Au was saved from development and became part of the Danube-Auen National Park in 1996.
Schmidauer, who described her political views as "left-liberal," has worked for the Austrian Green Party for nearly 30 years.[1] She began working for the Green Party as a new hire in December 1989.[1] Schmidauer worked as the personal assistant and political aide to Alexander Van der Bellen, a prominent Green Party politician (and her future husband) from 1996 until 1999.[1] She then served as the Managing Director of the Green Party Parliamentary Club from October 1999 until January 2018.[1][3]
In December 2015, Doris Schmidauer married Alexander Van der Bellen following a longtime relationship.[1] Doris Schmidauer has no children, while Van der Bellen has two sons from his first marriage.[1]
Schmidauer became First Lady in January 2017 when Van der Bellen assumed the presidency of Austria. She epressed a desire to continue working within the Green Party's leadership while fulfilling her obligations as first lady and wife of the president.[1][5] She left her position as manager of the Greens Parliamentary Club in January 2018 to focus on the duties of the first lady.[3][6]
In a speech on International Women's Day 2019, Schmidauer criticized the lack of women on the boards of directors of domestic Austrian companies.<ref name=kurier2>She noted that, out 186 total board members, only nine were women.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Doris Schmidauer - Die neue First Lady". Salzburger Nachrichten. 2013-12-07. Archived from the original on 2020-05-30. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ "Das ist die neue First Lady". Kurier. 2013-12-07. Archived from the original on 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ a b c d e "CV Mag.a Doris Schmidauer" (PDF). Wirtrauern.at. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
- ^ a b "Ernst Schmidauer: Musiker, Mentor und Menschenfreund". Wirtrauern.at. 2018-01-17. Archived from the original on 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
- ^ Mittelstaedt, Katharina (2016-12-04). "Das ist die neue First Lady". Österreich. Archived from the original on 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ a b Metzger, Ida (2019-09-03). "Schmidauer entdeckt Spaß an First-Lady-Rolle". Kurier. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2020-05-31.