list of austrians

This list is rather inclusive -- many people on this list can also claim other nationalities; some were born in Austria, but spent the most important part of their lives outside Austria (e.g. Hitler, Schwarzenegger), others were born outside Austria or even outside of Austria-Hungary, but spent the most important part of their lives in Austria (e.g. Beethoven, Elisabeth of Austria). Many Austrians in this list could be included in more than one category. For example, Niki Lauda could be listed under entrepreneurs as well as sportsmen. Famous Austrians include:

Actors/Actresses

Leon Askin, actor
Klaus Maria Brandauer, actor
Kthe Gold (1907-1997)
Liane Haid, first Austrian movie star
Hedy Lamarr (1913-2000), actress; also co-inventor of spread spectrum radio technology; became U.S. citizen
Hans Moser
Fritz Muliar
Romy Schneider, actress (Sissi)
Arnold Schwarzenegger, (born 1947), bodybuilder, actor, Governor of California; became U.S. citizen
Walter Slezak, actor
Oskar Werner, actor

Artists/Architects

Raimund Abraham, architect
Herbert Bayer, artist, typographer, art director, graphic designer
Karl Ehn, architect
Josef Frank, architect
Ernst Fuchs, painter and sculptor, born in Vienna, 1930
Rudolf Hausner, painter and graphic artist, 1914-1995
Gottfried Helnwein, artist, born in Vienna, 1948
Hans Hollein, architect
Alfred Hrdlicka, sculptor and graphic artist, born in Vienna, 1928
Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist, 1928-2000, born in Vienna
Gustav Klimt, artist, helped found Vienna Secession
Oskar Kokoschka, painter, 1886-1980, born in Pchlarn (Lower Austria)
Adolf Loos, architect
Inge Morath, photographer
Hermann Nitsch, artist, painter, born in Vienna, 1938
Gustav Peichl, architect
Alf Poier, artist and stand-up comedian
Wolf Prix, architect
Arnulf Rainer, painter, born 1929
Egon Schiele, painter, 1890-1918
Margarete Schtte-Lihotzky, architect and political activist
Helmut Swiczinsky, architect
Heinz Tesar, architect
Otto Wagner, Jugendstil architect behind much of turn-of-the-century Viennese architecture
Fritz Wotruba, sculptor, 1907-1975, born in Vienna

Composers/Musicians

Ludwig van Beethoven composer, born in Bonn, Germany but spent most of his life in Vienna
Alban Berg, composer, 1885-1935, born in Vienna
Walter Berry, bass-baritone, 1929-2000
Karl Bhm, conductor, 1894-1981
Alfred Brendel, pianist, born 1931
Anton Bruckner, composer, 1824-1896
Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, composer, 1739-1799
Falco, (1957-1998), pop musician
Friedrich Gulda, pianist and composer, born in 1930 in Vienna
Joseph Haydn, composer with Croatian connections. Author of "Imperial Hymn" now German Hymn
Udo Jrgens, singer-songwriter
Walter Jurmann, composer
Herbert von Karajan, conductor, 1908-1989
Erich Kleiber, conductor, 1890-1956
Gustav Mahler, composer, 1860-1911
Leopold Mozart, composer & musician, 1719-1787
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer & musician, 1756-1791
Arnold Schoenberg, composer, 1874-1951
Franz Schubert, composer & musician, 1797-1828
Johann Strauss, Sr., 1809-1849, Johann Strauss, Jr., 1825-1899, and Josef Strauss, 1827-1870, the "Waltz Kings" of the latter 19th century
Stefan Weber, Drahdiwaberl
Anton von Webern, composer, 1883-1945
Joe Zawinul, jazz musician, composer, born in Vienna, 1932

Entrepreneurs

Richard Lugner, entrepreneur and society figure
Dietrich Mateschitz, businessman behind the Red Bull brand
Robert Schlumberger, entrepreneur
Daniel Swarovski, founder of Swarovski AG

Filmmakers

Fritz Lang, film director, December 05, 1890 - August 02, 1976
Josef von Sternberg, film director, 1894-1969
Billy Wilder, film director, 1906-2002, born in Austria-Hungary
Otto Preminger, film director
Fred Zinnemann, film director
Franz Antel, filmmaker
Michael Haneke, film director

Inventors

Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of GLOCK
Eduard Haas, inventor of PEZ
Viktor Kaplan, inventor of turbines for river power plants
Johann Korbuly, inventor of matador (special wooden toy)
Josef Madersberger, invented the sewing-machine in 1818
Sigfried Marcus, inventor of automobile in 1864 in Vienna, lived most of his life in Austria
Paul Schwarzkopf, inventor of powder metallurgy
Auer von Welsbach, inventor of gaslight

Philosophers

Martin Buber, philosopher, 1878-1965, born in Vienna
Heinrich Gomperz, philosopher, 1873-1942, born in Vienna
Karl Popper, philosopher (born in Austria, became British)
Othmar Spann, philosopher and economist
Rudolf Steiner, mystic & philosopher
Otto Weininger, philosopher
Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, born 1889 in Vienna

Politicians

Engelbert Dolfuss, politician, 1892-1934, born in Texing
Franz Joseph, emperor of Austria
Eva Glawischnig
Jrg Haider
Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933-1945; born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn
Bruno Kreisky, Chancellor of Austria (1970-1983)
Hans-Peter Martin (born 1957), Member of the European Parliament
Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, diplomat
Karl Renner, (1870-1950), Chancellor and President of Austria
Kurt Waldheim, diplomat and politician; former Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1982, former President of Austria from 1986 to 1992 born 1918

Psychologists

Alfred Adler, father of Individual Psychology
Hans Asperger, pediatrician, namesake of Asperger's syndrome
Bruno Bettelheim, psychologist
Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis
Otto Rank, pioneer psychologist
Wilhelm Reich, psychologist, (1897-1957)

Scientists/Mathematicians/Engineers

Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist, 1844-1906, born in Vienna
Fritjof Capra, physicist
Christian Andreas Doppler, physicist, 1803-1853, born in Salzburg (See Doppler effect)
Paul Ehrenfest, physicist & mathematician
Viktor Frankl, father of logotherapy
Kurt Gdel, mathematician (born in Austria-Hungary, became naturalized U.S. citizen)
Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, orientalist
Hans Hass, biologist
Friedrich Hayek, Nobel Prize winner (economics)
Karl Landsteiner, physician, serologist, Nobel Prize winner, 1886-1943
Konrad Lorenz zoologist, Nobel prize 1973 (physiology/medicine)
Lise Meitner, physicist
Ernst Mach, physicist and philosopher (Mach number)
Gregor Mendel, pioneer of genetics
Ludwig von Mises, free-market economist
Wolfgang Pauli, Nobel prize winner (Physics, 1945)
Ferdinand Porsche, automotive engineer, designed the Volkswagen (the "people's car"), born in Austria-Hungary
Erwin Ringel (1921-1994), Austrian psychiatrist (presuicidal syndrome)
Erwin Schrdinger, physicist and Nobel Prize winner
Berta von Suttner, Nobel Prize winner
Anton Zeilinger, physicist

Sportsmen/Sportswomen

Hansi Hinterseer (born 1954), skier, singer, actor, entertainer
Franz Klammer, Olympic alpine ski champion, born in Mooswald (Carinthia), 1953
Niki Lauda, (born 1949), Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
Hermann Maier, Olympic alpine ski champion, born 1972
Thomas Muster, tennis champion, born 1967
Annemarie Proell, Olympic alpine ski champion, born 1953 in Kleinarl
Gernot Reinstadler, skier (1970-1991)
Jochen Rindt, race car driver, Formula One World Champion of 1970 (he died during that season!)
Toni Sailer, 1956 Olympic Games - Won all three gold medals earning himself the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing ; born 1935
Christoph Sieber, Olympic surfing champion
Hubert Strolz, Olympic alpine ski champion, born in Warth, 1962
Anita Wachter, Olympic alpine ski champion, born in Schruns, 1967

Writers

Ingeborg Bachmann, poet, 1926-1973
Otto Maria Carpeaux, literary critic and foremost historian of Literature, 1900-1978
Thomas Bernhard, dramatist, novelist, poet, 1931-1989, born in Cloister Heerlen, Netherlands
Heimito von Doderer, writer, 1896-1966, born in Hadersdorf-Weidlingau near Vienna
Franz Grillparzer, poet, 1791-1872, Vienna
Peter Handke, author, born in 1942 in Griffen (Carinthia)
dn von Horvth, writer, born in Rijeka (today Fiume), Austria-Hungary, 1901-1938
Elfriede Jelinek (born 1946), 2004 Nobel prize for literature
Franz Kafka, writer, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (wrote in German)
Ludwig von Kchel, writer, composer, botanist, music historian
Karl Kraus, essayist, poet, dramatist, 1874-1936
Alexander Lernet-Holenia, novelist, poet, playwright
Robert Menasse, writer and publicist
Frederic Morton, journalist and novelist, born 1924
Robert Musil, writer
Gnther Nenning, journalist, born 1921
Arthur Schnitzler, writer
Jura Soyfer, cabaret writer and political journalist, lived in Vienna
Fritz Spiegl, journalist
Friedrich Torberg, narrative writer, essayist, script author 1908-1979, born in Vienna
Georg Trakl, poet
Stefan Zweig, writer, 1881-1942, born in Vienna

Other Notables

Marie Antoinette, born in Vienna, became Queen of France
Elisabeth of Austria ("Sissi"), born in Munich (Bavaria)
Rudolph Bing, opera manager
Elfi von Dassanowsky, film producer, singer, pianist
Otto Habsburg-Lothringen Politician, writer, heir to the thrones of Austria-Hungary
Tunc Hamarat, correspondence chess world champion (2004)
Theodor Herzl, "founder" of Israel, lived most of his life in Austria
Franz Cardinal Knig, 1905-2004, Archbishop of Vienna (1956-1985)
Alma Mahler, wife and muse to Mahler, Gropius, Werfel
Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef and restaurateur
Max Reinhardt, renowned theatre director
Gnther Schifter, radio personality
Georg Ritter von Trapp, head of The Sound of Music family
Simon Wiesenthal, b.1908, Nazi hunter