Alexander Van der Bellen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alexander Van der Bellen
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Van der Bellen in 2021
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| President of Austria | |
| Assumed office 26 January 2017 |
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| Chancellor | |
| Preceded by | Heinz Fischer |
| Spokesman of the Green Party | |
| In office 13 December 1997 – 3 October 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Christoph Chorherr |
| Succeeded by | Eva Glawischnig |
| Member of the National Council | |
| In office 7 November 1994 – 5 July 2012 |
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| Nominated by | Peter Pilz |
| Affiliation | Green Party |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 January 1944 Greater Vienna, Alpine and Danube Reichsgaue, Greater German Reich (now Vienna, Austria) |
| Citizenship | |
| Political party | Independent (2016–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
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| Spouses |
Brigitte Hüttner
(m. 1962; div. 2015)Doris Schmidauer
(m. 2015) |
| Children | 2 sons (with Brigitte) |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Van der Bellen family |
| Residences | |
| Alma mater | University of Innsbruck (Dr. rer. oec.) |
| Profession | |
| Awards | List of honours and awards |
| Signature | .png){kind=small} |
| Website |
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Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen (born 18 January 1944) is an Austrian politician. He has been the President of Austria since 2017. Before becoming president, he was a professor of economics at the University of Vienna. He also served as the leader of the Austrian Green Party.
Van der Bellen was born in Austria. His parents were refugees from Russia and Estonia. They had to leave their homes because of the occupation of the Baltic states. In 1958, he and his parents became Austrian citizens. His family, the Van der Bellen family, has roots in the Netherlands from the 18th century.
He was a member of the National Council, which is like Austria's parliament. He represented the Green Party from 1994 to 2012. During this time, he was also the leader of the party and its group in parliament.
In 2016, he ran for president as an independent candidate. The Green Party supported him. He came in second in the first round of voting. Then, he won the second round against Norbert Hofer. However, the election results were later canceled by the Constitutional Court. This was because some absentee votes were counted too early. So, the election had to be held again. On 4 December 2016, he won the re-election with about 54% of the votes.
Van der Bellen sees himself as a centrist liberal. He supports green and social liberal ideas. He is also a strong supporter of the European Union and believes in European federalism. During his presidential campaign, he got support from both the Social Democratic Party and the conservative People's Party. He is the first Green president in a European Union country to be directly elected by the people.
Contents
About His Life
Early Life and Family History
In the 1700s, Van der Bellen's family moved from the Netherlands to the Russian Empire. During the Russian Civil War (1917–1922), some of his family fled from the Bolsheviks. They moved to the newly independent Estonia. His grandfather, Aleksander von der Bellen, was a government leader in Pskov, Russia. In Estonia, the family changed their name from von der Bellen to Van der Bellen.
In 1931, Van der Bellen's father, Alexander, married Alma Sieboldt in Estonia. His father also became an Estonian citizen. In 1940, the Soviet Union took over Estonia. In 1941, Van der Bellen's parents and older sister moved to Nazi Germany. They were accepted as Volksdeutsche, which meant they were ethnic Germans living outside Germany.
His family then moved to Vienna, Austria, where Alexander was born in 1944. He was baptized into the Lutheran Church. As the Red Army got closer to Vienna, his family escaped to the Kauner valley in Tyrol. His father later started a business there.
In 1954, after finishing primary school, Van der Bellen went to the Academic Grammar School in Innsbruck. He graduated in 1962. Until about 1958, he had Estonian citizenship, like his parents. Then, he became an Austrian citizen.
His Education
Van der Bellen studied economics at the University of Innsbruck. He earned his master's degree in 1966. In 1970, he received his doctorate (a higher degree) in economics. His research focused on how public services and government finances work.
He worked as a scientific assistant at the University of Innsbruck. From 1972 to 1974, he was a researcher in Berlin. In 1975, he became a university lecturer. He also became friends with Turkish economist Murat R. Sertel. They worked together on theories about decisions and preferences.
In 1976, Van der Bellen became a professor at the University of Innsbruck. He moved to Vienna in 1977 to study and research more. From 1980 to 1999, he was a professor of economics at the University of Vienna. He was also the dean (head) of the economics faculty there from 1990 to 1994. In 1999, he became a leader for the Green Party in parliament. He retired as a university professor in 2009.
His studies mainly focused on how the government plans and pays for things. This included public spending, government rules, and policies for the environment and transportation. He wrote many articles for different economic journals.
His Family Life
Van der Bellen got married when he was 18 and became a father at 19. He had two sons with his first wife, Brigitte. They were married for over 50 years before they divorced in 2015. Since December 2015, Van der Bellen has been married to Doris Schmidauer, who was a longtime friend and worked for the Green Party. He lives in Vienna and also has a home in Kaunertal, Tyrol.
His Religion
When he was young, Van der Bellen left the Lutheran Church. He later said he didn't believe in one specific God. Instead, he believed in a "message or vision" that he felt was in the New Testament. However, in 2019, he announced that he had rejoined the Protestant Church.
Estonian Citizenship
After Van der Bellen won the 2016 Austrian presidential elections, the President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, congratulated him. The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Van der Bellen could get his Estonian passport back at any time. This is because his parents were Estonian citizens before 1940. Children of such parents can automatically become citizens. Urmas Paet, a former Estonian foreign minister, said it was a reason to congratulate Austrians twice. He added that it was special for Estonia that an Estonian citizen was elected president of Austria.
His Nickname
Friends and colleagues sometimes call Van der Bellen "Sascha." This is a common shorter version of his first name, Alexander.
His Political Journey
How He Joined Politics
Van der Bellen was part of the Social Democratic Party from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s. But later, he became more interested in the environmental movement. His former student, Peter Pilz, who was a leader of the Green Party, encouraged him to join. Van der Bellen described his change as going from an "arrogant anti-capitalist" to a "generous left-liberal." In his 2015 book, he called himself a "liberal" inspired by the British-American liberal tradition.
In 1992, the Greens suggested Van der Bellen for a position in government, but he did not get it. After the Green Party lost many votes in the 1995 elections, Van der Bellen became the party leader in December 1997. He stayed in this role until October 2008. He was the longest-serving leader in the history of the Austrian Greens, leading them for almost eleven years.
When he took over, the party had only 4.8% support. He led the party through three elections, and their support grew each time. In 1999, they got 7.4% of the votes. In 2002, it was 9.5%, and in 2006, it reached 11.05%. After the 2008 elections, where the Green Party's votes dropped slightly to 10.11%, Van der Bellen resigned as party leader. He was often called "the green professor" by the media. He handed over his role to Eva Glawischnig.
As a Member of Parliament
Van der Bellen became a member of the National Council (Austria's parliament) for the first time on 7 November 1994. He held this position until 2012. From 1999 to 2008, he was the leader of the Green Party in the National Council.
During his time in parliament, Van der Bellen was part of several important committees. These included committees for the budget, science, finance, and foreign affairs. From 2010 to 2012, he was also a member of the Austrian group that went to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
His Political Beliefs
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In 2001, Van der Bellen said that he changed from being an "arrogant anti-capitalist" to a "broad-minded left-liberal" during his political career. In his 2015 book, he described himself as a liberal who is in the political centre. He said he was inspired by the liberal ideas of English-speaking countries, especially John Stuart Mill. He strongly supports the European Union and believes that European countries should work more closely together, like a federation. During the 2016 presidential election, his campaign slogan was "Our President of the Centre."
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During the European migrant crisis, Van der Bellen argued that Europe should welcome refugees. These are people who have fled from war zones like Syria. He often talked about his own background as the son of refugees during debates. He did not agree with the government's decision to limit the number of asylum-seekers allowed into Austria.
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Van der Bellen has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump. He has warned about the dangers of right-wing populism. He also believes that the United Kingdom leaving the European Union is bad for both the UK and Europe's economies. He does not support recognizing Russia's takeover of Crimea. He has also stated that the Austrian embassy in Israel should stay in Tel Aviv.
He has also criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He said that while people in Austria have the freedom to protest peacefully, the same freedoms are not allowed in Turkey.
During the 2024 Austrian elections, Van der Bellen promised to make sure that any new government would respect Austria's liberal democracy. Even though the far-right Freedom Party won the most votes, Van der Bellen first asked the current Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, to try and form a government. This was because other parties refused to work with the Freedom Party. However, after those talks failed, Van der Bellen later asked Herbert Kickl of the Freedom Party to try and form a government.
Presidential Elections
Before the Election
People started seeing Van der Bellen as a possible presidential candidate as early as August 2014. The Green Party even reserved a website name for his possible campaign in November 2014.
His Campaign
On 8 January 2016, Van der Bellen officially announced that he would run for the 2016 presidential election. He did this through a video message.
Van der Bellen ran as an independent candidate, meaning he was not officially representing a political party. However, he had been the longest-serving leader of the Green Party (from 1997 to 2008). He was still an active member of the party. Because of this, some people questioned if he was truly non-partisan. To show his commitment to being independent, Van der Bellen officially paused his membership with the Green Party in May 2016.
Even though he ran as an independent, the Green Party still supported him. They created a special group to help his campaign. This group had employees, offices, and received 1.2 million euros in financial help. For the re-run of the election, this group received about 2.7 million euros in private donations. His opponent, Norbert Hofer, received 3.4 million euros from his party. By running as an independent, Van der Bellen did not have to get official approval from the Green Party. Also, he was not legally required to share his campaign donations, but his campaign group still published them on their website.
The Election Results
In the first round of the 2016 presidential election, Van der Bellen came in second. He received 21.34% of the votes, while Norbert Hofer got 35.05%.
In the second round of voting, called the runoff election, on 22 May 2016, Van der Bellen won. The final results, including votes sent by mail, showed that Van der Bellen received 50.35% of the votes. Hofer received 49.64%. Van der Bellen won by a difference of 31,026 votes. About 72.7% of people voted in this election.
After the election, Van der Bellen said that he would not ask the Freedom Party to form a government, even if they became the largest party. This would have been a new thing in Austria's history, as presidents usually ask the leader of the largest party to form a government.
However, on 1 July 2016, the Constitutional Court agreed with a complaint from the Freedom Party. There were problems with how some mail-in votes were counted. Because of these issues, the election had to be repeated across all of Austria.
Van der Bellen also won the second runoff election, which was held on 4 December 2016. He received 53.8% of the valid votes, with 74.2% of people voting. In the first runoff election in May 2016, Van der Bellen won by about 31,000 votes. In the second runoff election in December 2016, he expanded his lead to over 348,000 votes.
On 22 May 2022, Van der Bellen announced he would run for a second term. He won re-election in the 2022 presidential election on 9 October 2022, with 56.2% of the votes.
Becoming President
Alexander Van der Bellen officially became the President of Austria on 26 January 2017. After giving his first speech as president, he met with the government. He was also greeted with a military ceremony as the new commander-in-chief of the Bundesheer, Austria's armed forces.
Honours and Awards
Austrian honours
Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (4 May 2004).
Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (26 January 2017).
Foreign honours
Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (21 March 2022)
Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (21 May 2021)
Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (27 June 2019)
Grand Star of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein (20 March 2018)
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (27 June 2022)
Grand Collar of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (18 June 2019)
Member 1st class of the Order of the White Double Cross (21 March 2019)
Member of the Order for Exceptional Merits (8 December 2022)
Recipient of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa (14 June 2021)
Collar of the Order pro Merito Melitensi (16 November 2017)
Collar of the Order of the White Lion (2 March 2023)
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Other awards
- Statue der Erinnerung of the International Auschwitz Committee (2018)
Images for kids
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Van der Bellen in 2004
See also
In Spanish: Alexander Van der Bellen para niños
