Franz Jonas

President of Austria

4 October 1899 Floridsdorf, Austria-Hungary

24 April 1974(1974-04-24) (74) Vienna, Austria

9 June 1965 – 24 April 1974

Austrian politician, President of Austria Franz Josef Jonas (4 October 1899 – 24 April 1974) was an Austrian politician who served as the President of Austria between 1965 and 1974. He was a typesetter by profession and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. After World War II, he got involved in Viennese communal politics and was mayor of Vienna from 1951 to 1965. From 1965, he was federal president and was re-elected in 1971. Jonas was a fervent supporter of Esperanto, and starting in 1923, became a long-time instructor of the language. His address to the 1970 World Congress of Esperanto, which was held in Vienna, was delivered in Esperanto. In 1974, he died in office, the fourth consecutive president to do so. In Vienna, a large tram station officially called Schottentor which was built when he was mayor is colloquially named after him (Jonas-Reindl, which translates as Jonas bowl). In 1966, Jonas was awarded the Grand Cross of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav with Collar, and in 1969 the Pierre de Coubertin medal.