Franz Josef Jonas (4 October 1899 – 24 April 1974) was an Austrian politician who served as the president of Austria between 1965 and 1974 as a member of the Socialist Party of Austria. He previously served as mayor of Vienna from 1951 to 1965 while simultaneously serving in the Austrian Parliament. Jonas first entered politics as a young adult while he was working as a typesetter, joining the Socialist Youth Movement and the Printers' Union. He served on the town council of Floridsdorf beginning in 1945 and was then placed in command of Vienna's food supply and housing in 1948 and 1949, respectively. Jonas took interest in international affairs, making several international trips as mayor and as president. As president, he oversaw the creation of a minority government under Bruno Kreisky, the leader of the Socialist Party. Jonas died in office after he was diagnosed with stomach cancer.
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Early life and career
Franz Jonas was born in Vienna on 4 October 1899. He was born to a working-class family and had seven siblings. After graduating school, he attended the printers' school of graphic arts. He later attended the Wiener Arbeiterbildungszentrum (transl. Viennese Workers' Education Centre) where his instructors included fellow future presidents Karl Renner, Adolf Schärf, and Theodor Körner. He did not receive formal schooling at a traditional university. Jonas was conscripted during World War I to fight in the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces in 1917. He served in the Deutschmeister regiment, where he served on the Eastern Front and the Italian front. He got a job as a typesetter at the end of the war in 1919 and continued in the profession until 1932.