Jonas, Franz

Jonas, Franz (fränts yō`näs), 1899–1974, Austrian Socialist politician. Jonas was mayor of Vienna (1951–65) and a member of parliament (1962–65). In 1965 he was elected president, and in 1971 he was reelected, defeating Kurt Waldheim.

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Jonas, Franz 

Born Oct. 4, 1899, in Vienna; died there Apr. 24, 1974. Austrian statesman.

Jonas graduated from a printing school in 1917, got a job in the printing industry in 1919, and joined the socialist youth movement and later the Social Democratic Party. From 1932 to 1934, Jonas directed a district organization of the party in Vienna and was arrested several times for participation in the Social Democratic movement. After the liberation of Austria from the fascist German troops (1945), Jonas worked in the municipality of Floridsdorf (a district of Vienna), helped found the Socialist Party of Austria (SPA), and was chairman of the Vienna organization of the SPA from 1949 to 1965 and a member of the board and vice-chairman of the SPA from 1950 to 1965. Mayor of Vienna from 1951 to 1965 and deputy to the Austrian Parliament from 1952 to 1965, Jonas became federal president of the Austrian Republic in June 1965.