List of Austrians

Famous or notable Austrians include:

Arts/culture

• Pauline von Metternich, patron of music and culture

Actors/Actresses

• Leon Askin, actor
• Senta Berger, actress
• Klaus Maria Brandauer, actor
• Käthe Gold, stage actress
• Liane Haid, first Austrian movie star.
• Hedy Lamarr, actress; also co-inventor of spread spectrum radio technology; became U.S. citizen
• Karl Merkatz, actor (most notable for his role as a Viennese in "Mundl")
• Hans Moser, comedy actor
• Maximilian Schell, actor
• Romy Schneider, actress
• Arnold Schwarzenegger, 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
• Natalie Portman, Israeli-born American actress, her maternal ancestors were Jewish immigrants from Austria and Russia.

Artists/Architects

Egon Schiele

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

Composers/Musicians

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Joseph Haydn

Johann Strauss II

Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1948

• Alban Berg, composer
• Alfred Brendel, pianist
• Anton Bruckner, composer
• Carl Czerny, pianist and composer
• Anton Diabelli, publisher, editor and composer
• Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, composer
• Karlheinz Essl, composer and electronical musician
• Falco, pop musician
• Wolfgang Ambros, famous Austro pop musician
• Christian Fennesz, electronic musician
• Bernhard Gál, composer and artist
• Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
• Joseph Haydn, composer
• Michael Haydn, composer, younger brother of Joseph Haydn
• Udo Jürgens, singer-songwriter
• Herbert von Karajan, conductor
• Bernhard Lang, composer
• Herbert Lauermann, composer and professor for composition
• Gustav Mahler, composer
• Penny McLean, singer with the disco group Silver Convention
• Leopold Mozart, composer and musician
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer and musician
• Gerhard Potuznik, electronic musician
• Werner Raditschnig, composer and musician
• Arnold Schönberg, composer
• Franz Schubert, composer and musician
• Johann Strauss, Sr., composer
• Johann Strauss, Jr., composer
• Josef Strauss, composer
• Franz von Suppé, composer
• Anton Webern, composer
• Hugo Wolf, composer
• Joe Zawinul, jazz musician, composer
• Eric Zeisl (1905-1959) composer
• Alexander von Zemlinsky, composer

Entrepreneurs

• Ignaz Glaser, entrepreneur
• Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of Glock
• Niki Lauda, 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
• Johann Puch, inventor, mechanic, co-founder of Steyr-Daimler-Puch.
• 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
• Albert Salomon von Rothschild, banker
• Anselm von Rothschild, banker
• 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 lives and works in Austria)
• Fritz Lang, film director
• Otto Preminger, film director
• Stefan Ruzowitzky, film director and writer
• Ulrich Seidl, film director and writer
• Josef von Sternberg, film director
• Erich von Stroheim, director
• Hans Weingartner, film director, producer and writer
• Virgil Widrich, film director, producer and writer
• Billy Wilder, film director, born in Austria-Hungary
• Fred Zinnemann, film director

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)
• Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, first woman to ascend 12 of the 14 Eight-thousanders (as of 2009)
• 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 Tyrol, Austria-Hungary)
• Fritz Wintersteller, first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957

Military leaders

Radetzky

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

Politicians

Klemens von Metternich

• Viktor Adler, Social democrat
• Friedrich Adler, Social democrat
• Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni, statesman and diplomat
• Dr. Otto Bauer, Social democrat politician, writer and marxist ideologist
• Count Leopold von Berchtold, foreign minister at the outbreak of the First World War
• Richard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, politician and writer
• Engelbert Dollfuß, Chancellor 1932-1934 (First Republic), established Austrofascism
• Leopold Figl, Chancellor 1945-1953, foreign minister 1953-1959
• Heinz Fischer, current President (elected 2004)
• Werner Faymann, current Chancellor (since 2008), chairman of the Austrian Socialdemocrats
• Jörg Haider, right-wing populist politician, governour of Carinthia until his death in 2008
• Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany 1933-1945, gained German citizenship in 1932
• Joseph Hormayr Freiherr zu Hortenburg, statesman and historian
• Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, archbishop of Vienna 1932-1955, minister of social affairs 1929-1930
• Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Nazi politician
• Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz, statesman
• Rudolf Kirchschläger, judge, diplomat and President 1974-1986
• Thomas Klestil, diplomat, President 1992-2004
• Bruno Kreisky, Chancellor 1970-1983, first Jewish Austrian in that office
• Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, diplomat and statesman
• Julius Raab, Chancellor 1953-1961
• Karl Renner, Chancellor 1918-1920 and 1945, first President of the Second Republic 1945-1950
• Adolf Schärf, President 1957-1965
• Anton von Schmerling, statesman (liberal movement of the 19th century)
• Kurt Schuschnigg, Chancellor 1934-1938
• Wolfgang Schüssel, Chancellor 2000-2007
• Arnold Schwarzenegger, current governor of California
• Ignaz Seipel, Catholic priest, Chancellor 1922-1924 and 1926-1929
• Arthur Seyß-Inquart, Nazi politician, last Chancellor before the Anschluss in 1938
• Johann Philipp von Stadion, statesman, foreign minister and diplomat 1763- 1824
• Alexander van der Bellen, former chairman of the Austrian Green Party
• Kurt Waldheim, diplomat and politician, Secretary-General of the United Nations 1972-1982, President of Austria 1986-1992

Religious leaders

• Ignaz Seipel, Catholic priest, Chancellor 1922-1924 and 1926-1929
• Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Archbishop of Vienna 1932-1955, minister of social affairs 1929-1930
• Franz Cardinal König, 1905-2004, Archbishop of Vienna (1956–1985)
• Christoph Schönborn, archbishop and cardinal

Royalty

Franz Joseph I

• 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, participated in the Third Crusade
• Maria Leopoldina, Archduchess, became Empress of Brazil
• 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 king
• Rudolf IV of Austria, Duke of Austria, self-styled archduke 1358-1365 (Privilegium Maius)

Science

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 Triesch, Austria-Hungary
• Jeffrey Herbener, economist, fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute

Engineers/Inventors

• Anselm Franz, pioneer in jet engine engineering, designed the world's first turbojet
• Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of GLOCK GmbH
• Eduard Haas, inventor of the Pez candy
• Hedy Lamarr, (known for research in frequencies, 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, inventor of the first gasoline powered automobile (vehicles of 1870 and 1889)
• 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"), inventor of the hybrid car, contributed to the design of the tiger I and tiger II tanks. born in Austria-Hungary
• Josef Ressel, inventor of the marine screw propeller, pneumatic post and ball bearing
• 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
• 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)
• Wilhelm Jerusalem, philosopher, born 1854 in Drenitz, died in 1923 in Vienna
• Georg Kreisel, philosopher and mathematician
• Hans Köchler, philosopher (born in Schwaz, 1948)
• 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)
• Felix Weltsch, journalist, philosopher, student of Christian von Ehrenfels
• 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
• Georg Kreisel, philosopher and mathematician
• Walter Kohn, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1998
• 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 who studied autism, person for whom Asperger syndrome is named
• Leopold Auenbrugger, physician 1722-1809 (method of percussion)
• Robert Bárány, physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Josef Breuer, physician (forerunner 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, 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
• Gregor Mendel, pioneer of genetics
• Julius Pokorny, linguist
• Rupert Riedl, zoologist

Sports

• Gerhard Berger, racing driver
• Michaela Dorfmeister, alpine skier
• Erich Eliskases, chess grandmaster
• Toni Fritsch, soccer and football player who won the Super Bowl in 1972
• Ernst Grünfeld, chess grandmaster
• Tunc Hamarat, correspondence chess world champion (2004)
• Ernst Happel, football player and coach.
• Hansi Hinterseer, skier, singer, actor, entertainer
• Franz Klammer, Olympic alpine ski champion
• Hans Krankl, football player and coach
• Niki Lauda, Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
• Hermann Maier, Olympic alpine ski champion
• Annemarie Moser-Pröll, alpine skier
• Thomas Muster, tennis champion
• Eva Pawlik, European figure skating Champion,
• Herbert Prohaska, football player and coach
• Jochen Rindt, race car driver, Formula One World Champion of 1970
• Toni Sailer, 1956 Olympic Games - won all three gold medals earning himself the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing; born 1935
• Wilhelm Steinitz, winner of first ever world chess championship in 1886
• Prince Max Schaumburg-Lippe, Austria's first race car driver. Drove BMW and Mercedes.
• Carl Schlechter, chess grandmaster
• Nicole Trimmel, kickboxing champion
• Matthias Sindelar, regarded by many as Austria's greatest ever footballer.
• Rudolf Spielmann, chess grandmaster
• Herma Szabo, Olympic and five-time World figure skating champion
• Anita Wachter, Olympic alpine ski champion, born 1967 in Schruns.

Writers

Adalbert Stifter

• Muhammad Asad, writer, philosopher, 1900-1992
• Ingeborg Bachmann, poet, 1926-1973
• Hermann Bahr, playwright, 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 Rousse, Bulgaria 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
• Alexander Lernet-Holenia, novelist, poet, dramtist, critic, 1897-1976
• Robert Menasse, writer and publicist
• Robert Musil, writer
• Johann Nestroy, famous playwright
• Christine Nöstlinger, writer (especially literature for children)
• Christoph Ransmayr, writer
• Ferdinand Raimund, writer and dramatist
• Rainer Maria Rilke, poet and novelist
• Peter Rosegger, writer 1843-1918
• Joseph Roth, writer (Radetzkymarsch)
• Arthur Schnitzler, writer
• Hilde Spiel, writer and journalist
• 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
• Josef Weinheber, poet and essayist
• 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

Personalities of the Nazi Party and regime

• Aribert Heim, physician ("Dr. Death") in the Mauthausen concentration camp
• Ernst Kaltenbrunner

Other notables

• Maria Altmann, niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer
• Oscar Baumann, explored the interior of German East Africa (present-day Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi)
• Robert Bernardis, resistance fighter during WW2 (July 20 Plot)
• Rudolph Bing, opera manager
• Adele Bloch-Bauer, subject of famous painting by Gustav Klimt
• Amon Göth, commander of Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp
• HI & RH Otto Von Habsburg-Lothringen Politician, writer, heir to the thrones of Austria-Hungary
• Theodor Herzl, "father of Zionism," lived most of his life in Austria
• Andreas Hofer, Tyrolian freedom fighter (against Napoleon)
• Natascha Kampusch, girl who was kidnapped for 8 years.
• Heinrich Kanner, journalist and editor of the newspaper "Die Zeit" in the k.u.k. Monarchy
• Alma Mahler, wife and muse to Mahler, Gropius, Werfel
• Andreas Maislinger, founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
• Julius von Payer, polar explorer
• Wolfgang Priklopil, kidnapped Natascha Kampusch and kept her captive for over 8 years
• Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef and restaurateur
• Ben Markham, wealthy Austrian businessman and traveller.
• Max Reinhardt, renowned theatre director
• Sister Maria Restituta, nun and nurse murdered by the Nazis
• Günther Schifter, radio personality
• Oskar Schindler, industrialist and famous WWII hero (saved his Jewish factory workers from Auschwitz)
• Otto Skorzeny, Nazi commando (rescuer of Benito Mussolini)
• Carl Szokoll, resistance fighter ("saviour of Vienna"), author and film producer
• Georg Ludwig von Trapp, head of The Sound of Music family
• Franz Viehböck, cosmonaut
• Karl Weyprecht, polar explorer
• Simon Wiesenthal, 1908–2005, pre-eminent Nazi hunter

See also

• List of Austrian Jews
• List of Germans
• List of Slovenians
• List of Hungarians
• List of Croatians
• List of Serbs
• List of Czechs
• List of Slovaks
• List of Poles
• List of people by nationality