Klasnic speaking in 2004

Waltraud Klasnic (née Tschiltsch, born 27 October 1945) is an Austrian politician who was Landeshauptfrau (governor) of Styria from 1996 until 2005.

Politics

Klasnic joined the women's organisation of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) in 1970. She was appointed to the Federal Council in 1977, remaining a member until 1981 when she was elected to the Styrian Landtag.[1]

After the previous Landeshauptmann of Styria Josef Krainer junior resigned due to a disappointing election performance, Klasnic was elected as his successor by the Landtag on 23 January 1996. She was the first, and at the time only, female governor of any Austrian state.[2]

Following a loss in the October 2005 Styrian state election Klasnic resigned from the state government.[3] Originally she intended to remain chairperson of the ÖVP in Styria, but lack of support forced her to relinquish this position as well.[4]

Klasnic was considered a possible candidate in the 2010 Austrian presidential election, but she declined to run.[5]

Personal life

Klasnic was born in 1945 in Graz and adopted shortly after birth. She grew up in poor conditions.[6]

In 2010 Klasnic became victims' advocate for the Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Austria, leading a commission tasked with investigating reported incidents and compensating victims. Critics expressed doubts over her independence because she had been appointed by the Catholic Church.[7]

Klasnic was appointed to a similar role by the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV) in 2017 after allegations of abuse in the organisation, related to the Me Too movement, were widely publicised.[8]

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "Klasnic, Waltraud". Austria-Forum (in German). Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  2. ↑ Klatzer, Jürgen (25 August 2014). "Parlament bleibt weiterhin eine Männerdomäne". Kurier (in German). Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  3. ↑ "Klasnic scheidet aus Landesregierung aus". Der Standard (in German). 3 October 2005. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  4. ↑ "Klasnic tritt auch als Parteichefin ab". Der Standard (in German). 27 November 2005. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "Klasnic will nicht VP-Kandidatin werden". Der Standard (in German). 21 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  6. ↑ "Waltraud Klasnic". Munzinger-Archiv (in German). Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  7. ↑ Kocina, Erich (1 April 2010). "Eine Hotline als Beginn tätiger Reue". Die Presse (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  8. ↑ "Missbrauchsvorwürfe: Waltraud Klasnic hilft dem ÖSV". Die Presse (in German). 28 November 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Anfragebeantwortung" [List of recipients of Austrian medals and decorations (1952–2012)] (PDF) (in German). pp. 1403, 1733. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  10. ↑ "AAS 95" (PDF). Acta Apostolicae Sedis (in Latin). 2003. p. 90. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  11. ↑ "Hohe Auszeichnung für Ex-Landeschefin". kommunikation.steiermark.at (Press release) (in German). 27 March 2006. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
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