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Hans Lauda

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Not to be confused with Hans Landa.

Hans Lauda
Lauda in 1954
Born(1896-03-25)25 March 1896
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died21 January 1974(1974-01-21) (aged 77)
Vienna, Austria
NationalityAustrian
Alma mater
OccupationIndustrialist
Years active1923–1960
Known forPresident of Federation of Austrian Industries
FatherErnst Lauda

Hans Lauda (25 March 1896 – 21 January 1974)[1] was an Austrian industrialist who co-founded the Federation of Austrian Industries and served as president from 1946 to 1960. He was the paternal grandfather of Formula One World Champion Niki Lauda.

Early life

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Hans Lauda was born on 25 March 1896 in Vienna.[1] His father Ernst Lauda worked in hydraulic engineering and bridge construction.[2] Lauda studied at the Theresianum,[1] and the University of Vienna, where he earned a doctorate in law.[1][3] He was known as "Old Lauda".[3] He was interested in Formula One, and drove to the Nürburgring and to Monaco to watch Formula One races.[3]

Career

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During the First World War, Lauda served in the Austrian artillery.[1] After the war, he worked for Veitscher [de] as a commercial secretary, between 1923 and 1925.[3] He then worked for Österreichisch-Amerikanischen Magnesit AG.[1][3] In 1937, he became the general manager of Veitscher.[3][4] After the Anschluss, Lauda was removed from his position in the company.[3][4] After the Second World War, Lauda was reinstated as general manager of Veitscher,[3][4] and Lauda built a papermaking empire there.[5]

In 1946, Lauda co-founded the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV), and was president of the organisation until 1960.[3][6] In 1949, he was cited in a New York Times report on the progress of the Marshall Plan. He reported that Austria would employ 20,000 former government officials.[7] He served as chairman of the Association of Industrialists,[8][9] and in 1951, he proposed a successful bill to freeze wages, to try and counteract inflation in the country.[9] In this role, Lauda was sceptical of the European Free Trade Association, of which Austria was one of the seven founding members. Lauda saw EFTA as an interim measure.[10] Lauda was also a president of the Austrian Red Cross,[3] from 1956 to 1974.[6]

Relationship with Niki Lauda

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Hans Lauda was the paternal grandfather of Formula One World Champion Niki Lauda.[3] Aged 10, Niki accused Hans of "double standards" after he accepted a medal of honour from socialist mayor of Vienna Felix Slavik, someone that Hans was not fond of.[11] Hans was critical of Niki's Formula One ambitions, saying that "A Lauda should be on the economic pages of the newspaper, not the sports pages."[12]

In 1971, Hans and Niki Lauda had an argument, after Hans vetoed funding for Niki to pay for a drive in the 1972 Formula One season with March Engineering.[13] The pair never spoke again.[3][13] Hans Lauda died in 1974,[3] roughly three months before Niki's first Formula One victory at the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix.[3]

In the 2013 biographical sports film Rush, Hans Lauda is embodied by German actor Hans-Eckart Eckhardt [de] in a supporting role as "Grandfather Lauda", rejecting Niki's Formula One ambitions in dialogue. His first name is not mentioned.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Hans Lauda" (in German). Munzinger-Archiv. 30 July 1956. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Lauda, Ernst Ritter von (1859–1932), Wasserbau- und Brückenbautechniker" (in German). Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Müller, Stefan (2012). Niki Lauda: Alles unter eine Kappe (PDF) (pdf) (in German). Styria Media Group. pp. 15–21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2012.
  4. ^ a b c Markus, George (23 May 2019). "Familie Lauda: Blaues Blut und rotes Kapperl". Kurier. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  5. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (21 May 2019). "Niki Lauda, Formula One Champion Who Pushed Limits, Dies at 70". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Die Präsidenten der IV von 1946 – 2012". Federation of Austrian Industries. 2012. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Niki Lauda dead at 70". Defence Point. 21 May 2019. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  8. ^ Bischof, Gunter (2020). Austria in the Nineteen Fifties. Routledge. ISBN 9781000675849.
  9. ^ a b Report on Austria. United States Office of High Commissioner for Austria. 1951. p. 27.
  10. ^ "Austria Threatened By Big European Trade War". The Daily News. 29 March 1960. p. 6. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Gossling, Stefan (June 2017). The Psychology of the Car: Automobile Admiration, Attachment, and Addiction. Elsevier. p. 196. ISBN 9780128110096.
  12. ^ "Niki Lauda: Calculative, Resilient, Three-Time World Champion". NDTV. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  13. ^ a b Henry, Alan (March 2009). "The years of the Rat". Motor Sport. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Rush – Alles für den Sieg" [Rush - Everything for victory]. filmstarts.de (in German). Retrieved 7 March 2022.
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