Famous People

Actors

Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilder, actor, governor of the US state of California
Erich von Stroheim, actor and film director
Hans Moser, comedy actor
Hedy Lamarr, actress
Karl Merkatz, actor
Käthe Gold, stage actress
Klaus Maria Brandauer, actor
Leon Askin, actor
Liane Haid, first Austrian movie star
Maximilian Schell, actor
Oskar Werner, actor
Romy Schneider, actress

Artists and Architects

Adolf Loos, architect
Albin Egger-Lienz, painter
Alfred Kubin, graphic artist
Aloys Wach, painter
Arnulf Rainer, painter
De Es Schwertberger, artist
Egon Schiele, painter
Ernst Fuchs, artist
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, painter
Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist
Gottfried Helnwein, artist, born in Vienna
Gustav Klimt, artist, helped found Vienna Secession
Hans Makart, history painter, designer and decorator
Harry Seidler, architect
Inge Morath, photographer
Johann Michael Rottmayr, Baroque painter
Karl Ehn, architect, designer of the Karl-Marx-Hof
Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, architect and political activist
Olga Wisinger-Florian, painter
Oskar Kokoschka, painter
Otto Wagner, Jugendstil architect behind much of turn-of-the-century Viennese architecture
Richard Neutra, architect
Willy Puchner, photographer

Composers and Musicians

Alban Berg, composer
Alexander von Zemlinsky, composer
Alfred Brendel, pianist
Anton Bruckner, composer
Anton Diabelli, publisher, editor and composer
Anton Webern, composer
Arnold Schönberg, composer
Carl Czerny, pianist and composer
Christian Fennesz, electronic musician
Falco, pop musician
Franz Schubert, composer and musician
Franz von Suppé, composer
Gerhard Potuznik, electronic musician
Gustav Mahler, composer
Herbert von Karajan, conductor
Joe Zawinul, jazz musician, composer
Johann Strauss, Jr., composer
Johann Strauss, Sr., composer
Josef Strauss, composer
Joseph Haydn, composer
Karlheinz Essl, composer and electronical musician
Leopold Mozart, composer and musician
Michael Haydn, composer, younger brother of Joseph Haydn
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
Penny McLean, singer with the disco group Silver Convention
Udo Jürgens, singer-songwriter
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer and musician
Wolfgang Ambros, pop musician

Economists

Carl Menger, founder of the Austrian School of economics
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk economist and early member of the Austrian School of Economics
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)
Friedrich von Wieser, economist of the Austrian School
Joseph Schumpeter, economist, born in Triesch, Austria-Hungary
Ludwig von Mises, free-market economist
Oskar Morgenstern, co-founder of game theory
Otto Neurath, socialist, economist and philosopher

Engineers and Inventors

Alois Negrelli, engineer and railroad pioneer (created the plans for the Suez Canal)
Alois Senefelder, inventor of the printing technique of lithography
Anselm Franz, pioneer in jet engine engineering, designed the worlds first turbojet
Auer von Welsbach, inventor of gaslight
Eduard Haas, inventor of PEZ
Ferdinand Porsche, automotive engineer, designed the Volkswagen (the "people's car"), inventor of the hybrid car, contributed to the design of the tiger I and tiger II tanks
Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of GLOCK GmbH
Josef Ressel, inventor of the marine screw propeller, pneumatic post and ball bearing
Max Valier, rocketry pioneer
Siegfried Marcus, automobile pioneer, inventor of the first gasoline powered automobile (vehicles of 1870 and 1889)
Viktor Kaplan, inventor of turbines for river power plants
Wilhelm Kress, aviation pioneer, inventor of the stick control for airplanes

Entrepreneurs

Albert Salomon von Rothschild, banker
Daniel Swarovski, founder of Swarovski AG, world famous crystals
Dietrich Mateschitz, businessman behind the Red Bull brand
Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche, automotive engineer and entrepreneur
Ferdinand James von Rothschild, investor
Ferdinand Porsche, automotive engineer, designed the Volkswagen
Frank Stronach, (born in Austria), entrepreneur
Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of Glock
Ignaz Glaser, entrepreneur
Ludwig (Louis) von Nathaniel, banker
Nathaniel Mayer Anselm von Rothschild, banker
Niki Lauda, Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
Richard Lugner, entrepreneur and society figure
Robert Schlumberger, entrepreneur
Salomon Mayer von Rothschild, banker
Udo Proksch, industrialist, famous for his society life and the 'Lucona-Affair'.

Filmmakers

Amir Esmann, director, director of photography , writer
Andrea Maria Dusl, film director and writer
Axel Corti, director
Barbara Albert, film director, producer and writer
Billy Wilder, film director, born in Austria-Hungary
Elfi von Dassanowsky, film producer, singer, pianist
Erich von Stroheim, director
Franz Antel, director, actor and writer
Fred Zinnemann, film director
Fritz Lang, film director
Hans Weingartner, film director, producer and writer
Josef von Sternberg, film director
Michael Haneke, film director (mother was Austrian)
Otto Preminger, film director
Ulrich Seidl, film director and writer
Virgil Widrich, film director, producer and writer

Military Leaders

Alfred Fürst zu Windisch-Grätz, general
Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, military leader
Leopold Josef Graf Daun, Field marshall
Prince Eugene of Savoy, general in the war against the Turks (17th-18th century)
Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, admiral

Mountaineers

Fritz Wintersteller, first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957
Heinrich Harrer, mountaineer (first ascent of the Carstensz Pyramid) and writer (Seven Years in Tibet)
Herbert Tichy, geologist, journalist and mountaineer (first ascent of Cho Oyo)
Hermann Buhl, first ascent of Nanga Parbat 1953, first ascent of Broad Peak
Karl Blodig, mountaineer (first to climb all alpine mountains above 4000m)
Kurt Diemberger, first ascents of Broad Peak (1957) and Dhaulagiri (1960)
Ludwig Purtscheller, first ascent of Kilimanjaro in 1889
Luis Trenker, mountaineer, film director and writer
Marcus Schmuck, first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957 as expedition leader
Peter Aufschnaiter, mountaineer and co-traveller of Heinrich Harrer (Seven Years in Tibet)
Peter Habeler, first ascent of Mount Everest without oxygen

Philosophers

Alexius Meinong, philosopher (theory of objects) 1853-1920
Christian von Ehrenfels, philosopher
Edmund Husserl, philosopher (born in Prossnitz, Austria-Hungary)
Felix Weltsch, journalist, philosopher, student of Christian von Ehrenfels
Franz Brentano, philosopher and psychologist
Friedrich Waismann, mathematician, philosopher and physicist (member of the Vienna Circle)
Hans Köchler, philosopher (born in Schwaz, 1948)
Herbert Feigl, philosopher (member of the Vienna Circle)
Karl Popper, philosopher (born in Austria, became British)
Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, born 1889 in Vienna
Martin Buber, philosopher
Otto Neurath, socialist, economist and philosopher
Otto Weininger, philosopher
Paul Feyerabend, philosopher (died 1994)
Philipp Frank, philosopher and physicist(member of the Vienna Circle)

Physicians

Alfred Adler, psychiatrist, father of Individual Psychology
Clemens von Pirquet, pediatrician and scientist in bacteriology and immunology
Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow, physician and physiologist (studies of nerves and the brain)
Erwin Ringel, Austrian psychiatrist (presuicidal syndrome)
Franz Mesmer, physician, developed an early form of hypnotism 1734-1815
Hans Asperger, pediatrician (most known for work on autism
Ignaz Semmelweis, physician (born in Hungary, Austria-Hungary)
Josef Breuer, physician (forerunnner in psychoanalysis)
Julius Wagner-Jauregg, physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1927
Karl Landsteiner, physician, serologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1886-1943
Karl von Frisch, physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Leo Kanner, child psychiatrist
Leopold Auenbrugger, physician 1722-1809 (method of percussion)
Paracelsus, (real name: Theophrast von Hohenheim), alchemist and physician
Robert Bárány, physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Sigmund Freud, psychiatrist, father of psychoanalysis
Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist, father of logotherapy
Wilhelm Reich, psychiatrist, (1897-1957)

Physicists, Mathematicians and Chemists

Carl Auer von Welsbach, chemist
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)
Emil Artin, mathematician (Artin's conjecture)
Ernst Mach, physicist and philosopher (Mach number)
Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
Felix Ehrenhaft, maverick physicist, 1879-1952
Friedrich Hasenöhrl, physicist
Fritz Pregl, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1923
Gernot Zippe, physicist (developed Zippe-type centrifuge to extract Uranium-235 for nuclear weapons)
Hans Hahn, mathematician (member of the Vienna Circle)
Heinrich Franz Friedrich Tietze, mathematician
Johann Josef Loschmidt, physicist and chemist
Kurt Gödel, mathematician (born in Austria-Hungary, became naturalised U.S. citizen)
Lise Meitner, physicist
Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist, 1844-1906, born in Vienna
Max Ferdinand Perutz, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1962
Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, chemist
Paul Ehrenfest, physicist & mathematician
Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925
Richard Kuhn, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1938
Richard von Mises, physicist (younger brother of Ludwig von Mises)
Victor Franz Hess, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
Wolfgang Pauli, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics 1945

Politicians

Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany 1933-1945, gained German citizenship in 1932
Adolf Schärf, President 1957-1965
Alexander van der Bellen, chairman of the Austrian Green Party
Alfred Gusenbauer, current Chancellor (since 2007), chairman of the Austrian Socialdemocrats
Anton von Schmerling, statesman (liberal movement of the 19th century)
Arnold Schwarzenegger, current governor of California
Arthur Seyß-Inquart, Nazi politician, last Chancellor before the Anschluss in 1938
Bruno Kreisky, Chancellor 1970-1983, first Jewish Austrian in that office
Count Leopold von Berchtold, foreign minister at the outbreak of the First World War
Dr. Otto Bauer, Social democrat politician, writer and marxist ideologist
Engelbert Dollfuß, Chancellor 1932-1934 (First Republic), established Austrofascism
Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Nazi politician
Heinz Fischer, current President (elected 2004)
Ignaz Seipel, Catholic priest, Chancellor 1922-1924 and 1926-1929
Johann Philipp von Stadion, statesman, foreign minister and diplomat 1763- 1824
Jörg Haider, right-wing populist politician, current governor of Carinthia
Joseph Hormayr Freiherr zu Hortenburg, statesman and historian
Julius Raab, Chancellor 1953-1961
Karl Renner, Chancellor 1918-1920 and 1945, first President of the Second Republic 1945-1950
Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni, statesman and diplomat
Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, diplomat and statesman
Kurt Schuschnigg, Chancellor 1934-1938
Kurt Waldheim, diplomat and politician, Secretary-General of the United Nations 1972-1982, President of Austria 1986-1992
Leopold Figl, Chancellor 1945-1953, foreign minister 1953-1959
Richard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, politician and writer
Rudolf Kirchschläger, judge, diplomat and President 1974-1986
Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, archbishop of Vienna 1932-1955, minister of social affairs 1929-1930
Thomas Klestil, diplomat, President 1992-2004
Viktor Adler, Social democrat
Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz, statesman
Wolfgang Schüssel, Chancellor 2000-2007

Psychologists

Bruno Bettelheim, psychologist
Otto Rank, pioneer psychologist
Paul Watzlawick, communication theory

Religious Leaders

Franz Cardinal König, Archbishop of Vienna 1956-1985
Ignaz Seipel, Catholic priest, Chancellor 1922-1924 and 1926-1929
Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Archbishop of Vienna 1932-1955, minister of social affairs 1929-1930

Royalty

Elisabeth, Empress-Consort of Austria, wife of Francis Joseph I
Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria
Francis II/I, Holy Roman Emperor, first Emperor of Austria
Francis Joseph I, Emperor of Austria
Franz Ferdinand, Archduke (assassinated in 1914)
Frederick II of Austria, last Babenberger duke of Austria
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, reformer (abolished the death penalty) 1780-1790
Karl I, last Emperor of Austria
Karl V, Holy Roman Emperor 1500-1558
Leopold V, Babenberg duke of Austria, participated in 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, Emperor of Mexico, Archduke of Austria
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1459-1519
Rudolf IV of Austria, Duke of Austria, self-styled archduke 1358-1365 (Privilegium Maius)
Rudolph I, King of Germany, first Habsburg king

Sports

Anita Wachter, Olympic alpine ski champion
Annemarie Moser-Pröll, alpine skier
Carl Schlechter, chess grandmaster
Erich Eliskases, chess grandmaster
Ernst Grünfeld, chess grandmaster
Ernst Happel, football player and coach
Eva Pawlik, European figure skating Champion
Franz Klammer, Olympic alpine ski champion
Gerhard Berger, racing driver
Hans Krankl, football player and coach
Hansi Hinterseer, skier, singer, actor, entertainer
Herbert Prohaska, football player and coach
Herma Szabo, Olympic and five-time World figure skating champion
Hermann Maier, Olympic alpine ski champion
Jochen Rindt, race car driver, Formula One World Champion of 1970
Matthias Sindelar, footballer
Michaela Dorfmeister, alpine skier
Niki Lauda, Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
Rudolf Spielmann, chess grandmaster
Thomas Muster, tennis champion
Toni Fritsch, soccer and football player who won the Super Bowl in 1972
Toni Sailer, skier

Writers

Adalbert Stifrter, poet and artist (died 1869)
Alexander Lernet-Holenia, novelist, poet, dramatist, critic, 1897-1976
Alfred Fried, writer, pacifist and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1911
Arthur Schnitzler, writer
Bertha von Suttner, writer and pacifist Nobel Peace Prize winner
Christine Nöstlinger, writer (especially literature for children)
Christoph Ransmayr, writer
Elfriede Jelinek (born 1946), 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature
Ferdinand Raimund, writer and dramatist
Franz Grillparzer, poet, 1791-1872, Vienna
Franz Kafka, writer
Franz Werfel, writer, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (wrote in German)
Friedrich Torberg, narrative writer, essayist, script author 1908-1979
Georg Trakl, poet
Heimito von Dodere
, writer, 1896-1966
Hermann Bahr, playwright, novelist 1863-1934
Hugo von Hofmannsthal, dramatist, writer
Ingeborg Bachmann, poet, 1926-1973
Johann Nestroy, playwright
Joseph Roth, writer (Radetzkymarsch)
Ludwig Bemelmans, author of the Madeline books, 1898-1962.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, writer
Max Brod, writer, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary 1884, wrote in German
Oswald von Wolkenstein, writer and composer 1376-1445
Otto Maria Carpeaux, literary critic and foremost historian of Literature, 1900-1978
Paul Celan, poet (born in Romania, Austria-Hungary), wrote in German
Peter Handke, author, born in 1942 in Griffen (Carinthia)
Peter Rosegger, writer 1843-1918
Rainer Maria Rilke, poet and novelist
Robert Hamerling, poet 1830-1889
Robert Menasse, writer and publicist
Robert Musil, writer
Stefan Zweig, writer, 1881-1942, born in Vienna

Other Famous Austrians

Alma Mahler, wife and muse to Mahler, Gropius, Werfel
Amon Göth, commander of Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp
Andreas Hofer, Tyrolian freedom fighter (against Napoleon)
Andreas Maislinger, founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
Carl Szokoll, resistance fighter ("saviour of Vienna"), author and film producer
Christoph Schönborn, archbishop and cardinal
Franz Cardinal König, 1905-2004, Archbishop of Vienna (1956-1985)
Franz Viehböck, cosmonaut
Georg Ritter von Trapp, head of The Sound of Music family
Günther Schifter, radio personality
Julius von Payer, polar explorer
Karl Weyprecht, polar explorer
Max Reinhardt, theatre director
Oscar Baumann, explored the interior of German East Africa (present-day Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi)
Oskar Schindler, industrialist and famous WWII hero (saved his Jewish factory workers from Auschwitz)
Otto Habsburg-Lothringen, politician, writer, heir to the thrones of Austria-Hungary
Otto Skorzeny, Nazi commando (rescuer of Benito Mussolini)
Robert Bernardis, resistance fighter during WW2 (July 20 Plot)
Rudolph Bing, opera manager
Simon Wiesenthal, 1908-2005, pre-eminent Nazi hunter
Sister Maria Restituta, nun and nurse murdered by the Nazis
Theodor Herzl, "father of Zionism," lived most of his life in Austria
Tunc Hamarat, correspondence chess world champion (2004)
Wilhelm Steinitz, winner of first ever world chess championship in 1886
Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef and restaurateur