List of Austrians

The following list is an election of famous Austrians. For full lists of all famous Austrians please view the sublists.

For your consideration! This is intended as a general list for the most well known Austrians, already having (or deserving) their own articles on Wikipedia. This means that individuals that, though they may have their own articles will not necessarily fit on the general list. The first place to look for the entry of a name is many times found in a sub list. Some notable individuals may not fit any of the given categories and may be placed under other notables.

Actors/Actresses

Main article: List of Austrian actors

Klaus Maria Brandauer, actor
Käthe Gold (1907-1997)
Liane Haid, first Austrian movie star
Hedy Lamarr (1913-2000), actress; also co-inventor of spread spectrum radio technology; became U.S. citizen
Karl Merkatz, actor (most notable for his role as a Vienniese in "Mundl")
Hans Moser
Maximilian Schell, actor (played a defending lawyer in Judgment at Nuremberg)
Romy Schneider, actress (starring in Orson Wells' The Trial) (German mother and German citizenship)
Arnold Schwarzenegger, (born 1947), 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
Leon Askin, actor (1907 to 2005)

Artists/Architects

Main article: List of Austrian artists and architects

Albin Egger-Lienz, painter
Karl Ehn, architect, designer of the Karl-Marx-Hof.
Gottfried Helnwein, artist, born in Vienna, 1948
Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist, 1928-2000, born in Vienna
Gustav Klimt, artist, helped found Vienna Secession
Oskar Kokoschka, painter, 1886-1980, born in Pöchlarn (Lower Austria) (abandonded Austrian citizenship and became English citizen in 1946)
Alfred Kubin, painter (graphics)
Hans Makart, history painter, designer and decorator 1840-1884
Inge Morath, photographer
Richard Neutra, architect
Heinrich Spass, actor (kunste, 1996)
Arnulf Rainer, painter, born 1929
Johann Michael Rottmayr, painter (baroque)
Egon Schiele, painter, 1890-1918
Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, architect and political activist
Aloys Wach, painter
Otto Wagner, Jugendstil architect behind much of turn-of-the-century Viennese architecture
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, painter 1793 to 1865
Olga Wisinger-Florian, painter
Ernst Fuchs, artist
De Es Schwertberger, artist

Composers/Musicians

Main Article: List of Austrians in music

Alban Berg, composer, 1885-1935, born in Vienna
Alfred Brendel, pianist, born 1931
Anton Bruckner, composer, 1824-1896
Carl Czerny, pianist and composer
Karlheinz Essl, composer and electronical musician, born 1960
Falco, (1957-1998), pop musician
Christian Fennesz, electronic musician
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, (1929- ), conductor
Joseph Haydn, composer with Croatian connections. Author of "Imperial Hymn" now German Hymn
Udo Jürgens, singer-songwriter
Herbert von Karajan, conductor, 1908-1989
Bernhard Lang, composer
Franz Liszt, composer (born in Raiding, then Austria-Hungary, now Austria)
Gustav Mahler, composer, 1860-1911
Leopold Mozart, composer and musician, 1719-1787
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer & musician, 1756-1791
Gerhard Potuznik, electronic musician
Arnold Schönberg, composer, 1874-1951
Franz Schubert, composer and musician, 1797-1828
Johann Strauss, Sr., composer 1809-1849
Johann Strauss, Jr., composer 1825-1899
Josef Strauss, composer 1827-1870
Franz von Suppé, composer (born in Split, Austria-Hungary 1819)
Anton Webern, composer, 1883-1945
Joe Zawinul, jazz musician, composer, born in Vienna, 1932
Alexander von Zemlinsky, composer, born in Vienna, 1871

Entrepreneurs

Ignaz Glaser, entrepeneur
Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of GLOCK
Niki Lauda, (born 1949), 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
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 his mother was Austrian)
Jessica Hausner, film director, producer and writer
Fritz Lang, film director, December 05, 1890 - August 02, 1976
Ruth Mader, film director, producer and writer
Timo Novotny, film director, producer, designer, mediaartist
Otto Preminger, film director
Stefan Ruzowitzky, film director and writer
Ulrich Seidl, film director and writer
Harald Sicheritz, film director and writer
Josef von Sternberg, film director, 1894-1969
Erich von Stroheim, director
Hans Weingartner, film director, producer and writer
Virgil Widrich, film director, producer and writer
Billy Wilder, film director, 1906-2002, born in Austria-Hungary
Fred Zinnemann, film director

Mountaineers

Main Article: List of Austrian 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 South Tyrol, Austria-Hungary)
Fritz Wintersteller, first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957

Nobility

Austrian nobility

Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni, statesman and diplomat
Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust, statesman and diplomat
Leopold Josef Graf Daun, Field marshall
Joseph Hormayr Freiherr zu Hortenburg, statesman and historian
Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz, statesman
Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, diplomat and statesman
Pauline de Metternich, patron of music and culture
Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, military leader
Prince Eugene of Savoy, general in the war against the turks (17th-18th century)
Anton von Schmerling, statesman (liberal movement of the 19th century)
Johann Philipp von Stadion, statesman, foreign minister and diplomat 1763- 1824
Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, admiral
Alfred I, Fürst zu Windisch-Grätz, general

Politicians

Main Article: List of Austrian Politicians

Viktor Adler, Social democrat
Dr. Otto Bauer, politician (social democrat), writer and marxist ideologist
Count Leopold von Berchtold, foreign minister at the outbreak of World War One
Engelbert Dollfuß, Chancellor (First Republic) and dictator from 1933 to 1934
Leopold Figl, former Chancellor and foreign minister
Heinz Fischer, Austrian President (elected 2004)
Alfred Gusenbauer, chairman of the Austrian Socialdemocrats
Jörg Haider, politician, right-wing populist
Adolf Hitler, Nazi dictator of Germany (1933-1945), born April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn (gave up Austrian citizenship in 1925, gained German citizenship in 1932)
Theodor Innitzer, cardinal, archbishop of Vienna and minister of the First Republic
Ernst Kaltenbrunner, national nazi politician
Rudolf Kirchschläger, judge, diplomat and former Austrian president
Thomas Klestil, diplomat and Austrian president
Bruno Kreisky, first Jewish Austrian Chancellor 1911 - 1990
Julius Raab, former Chancellor
Karl Renner, former Chancellor and first Austrian president of the 2nd Republic
Adolf Schärf, former Austrian president
Kurt Schuschnigg, Chancellor from 1934 to 1938
Wolfgang Schüssel, current Chancellor of Austria
Arnold Schwarzenegger, current governor of California
Ignaz Seipel, former Chancellor (First Republic)
Arthur Seyß-Inquart, national socialist politician, last Chancellor before the Anschluss
Alexander Van der Bellen, chairman of the Austrian Green Party
Kurt Waldheim, diplomat and politician; former Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1982, former President of Austria from 1986 to 1992

Royalty

Main Article: List of rulers of Austria

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, (was on the Third Crusade)
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 duke of Austria
Rudolf IV of Austria, Duke of Austria, self-proclaimed archduke 1358-1365 (Privilegium Maius)

Science

Main Article: list of Austrian scientists

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 Triech, Austria-Hungary

Engineers/Inventors

Anselm Franz, pioneer in jet engine engineering
Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of GLOCK
Hedy Lamarr, (known for research in frequences, 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 (vehicles of 1870 and 1889) (German-born)
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"), born in Austria-Hungary
Alois Senefelder, inventor of the printing technique of lithography
Max Valier, rocketry pioneer
Auer von Welsbach, inventor of gaslight

Philosophers

Franz Brentano, philosopher and psychologist
Martin Buber, philosopher, 1878-1965, born in Vienna
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)
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)
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 Barany, physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Josef Breuer, physician (forerunnner 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 (1921-1994), 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
Theo Mayer-Maly, Austria´s professor of civil-, Roman-, trade- and historical law, several thousand publications and editor of many national legal acts.
Gregor Mendel, pioneer of genetics
Rupert Riedl, zoologist

Sports

Main Article: List of Austrians in Sports

Gerhard Berger, racing driver
Michaela Dorfmeister, alpine skier
Toni Fritsch, soccer and football player who won the superbowl in 1972
Ernst Happel (1925-1992), football player and coach.
Hansi Hinterseer (born 1954), skier, singer, actor, entertainer
Franz Klammer, Olympic alpine ski champion, born in Mooswald (Carinthia), 1953
Hans Krankl, football player and coach
Niki Lauda (born 1949), Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
Hermann Maier, Olympic alpine ski champion, born 1972
Annemarie Moser-Pröll, alpine skier
Thomas Muster, tennis champion, born 1967
Eva Pawlik, European figure skating Champion, born in Vienna, 1927, died in Vienna, 1983
Herma Szabo, Olympic and five-time World figure skating champion
Herbert Prohaska, football player and coach
Jochen Rindt, race car driver, Formula One World Champion of 1970 (he died during that season!)
Toni Sailer, 1956 Olympic Games - won all three gold medals earning himself the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing; born 1935
Prince Max Schaumburg-Lippe (born 1898-1974), Austria´s first race car driver. Drove BMW and Mercedes.
Matthias Sindelar, regarded by many as Austria's greatest ever footballer, 1903-1939
Anita Wachter, Olympic alpine ski champion, born in Schruns, 1967
Peter Rexeisen, Muscle Man 2006, 1988

Writers

Main Article: List of Austrian 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 Russe, Austria-Hungary 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, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (wrote in German)
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)
Ferdinand Raimund, writer and dramatist
Rainer Maria Rilke, poet and novelist
Peter Rosegger, writer 1843-1918
Joseph Roth, writer (Radetzkymarsch)
Arthur Schnitzler, writer
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
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

Ladislaus Almásy, pilot and automobile pioneer
Robert Bernardis, resistance fighter during WW2 (July 20 Plot)
Rudolph Bing, opera manager
Amon Göth, commander of Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp
Otto Habsburg-Lothringen Politician, writer, heir to the thrones of Austria-Hungary
Tunc Hamarat, correspondence chess world champion (2004)
Theodor Herzl, "founder" of Israel, lived most of his life in Austria
Andreas Hofer, Tyrolian freedom fighter (against Napoleon)
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
Max Reinhardt, renowned theatre director
Sister Maria Restituta, nun and nurse murdered by the Nazis
Baroness Bettina von Rothschild
Günther Schifter, radio personality
Christoph Schönborn, archbishop and cardinal
Otto Skorzeny, Nazi commando (rescuer of Benito Mussolini)
Wilhelm Steinitz, winner of first ever world chess championship in 1886
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

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