Thomas Klestil (German pronunciation:[ˈtoːmasˈklɛstɪl]ⓘ; 4 November 1932 – 6 July 2004) was an Austrian diplomat and politician who served as president of Austria from 1992 until his death in 2004. He was elected in 1992 and re-elected into office in 1998.
After being nominated by the conservative Austrian People's Party to run for president, he succeeded Kurt Waldheim on 8 July 1992. However, in the course of his two terms of office, Klestil's alienation from his own party became increasingly obvious, so much so that there was open antagonism between Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and Klestil when, in 2000, the latter had to swear in the newly formed coalition government with Jörg Haider's Austrian Freedom Party.[1] Klestil, who during his election campaign had vowed to be an "active" president, repeatedly criticized the Austrian government and, in an interview with a Swiss daily given in 2003, stated that, theoretically speaking, it was in his power to dismiss the government any time he found it necessary to do so.[citation needed] As a matter of fact, the Austrian constitution gives far-reaching powers to the president, but these had never been exercised by any of Klestil's predecessors.
Support of Kiryat Mattersdorf
Klestil gave his support to the development of Kiryat Mattersdorf, a Haredi Jewish neighborhood in northern Jerusalem founded by the MattersdorferRav, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld, in 1959 in memory of the Siebengemeinden (Seven Communities) of Burgenland that were destroyed in the Holocaust, Mattersdorf being one of them.[3] Ehrenfeld's son, Rabbi Akiva Ehrenfeld, who served as president of the neighborhood, established close ties with the Austrian government to obtain funding for several institutions, including a kindergarten and the Neveh Simcha nursing home. Following Klestil's official state visit to Israel in 1994, which included a side tour of Kiryat Mattersdorf, Klestil hosted Ehrenfeld at an official reception at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna on 24 January 1995.[4][5]
Personal life
Klestil met his future wife Edith Wielander (1932–2011) at the age of 17 in 1949. The marriage took place in 1957 and until the election as Austrian president in 1992, the couple had three children together. The couple separated in 1994, when Klestil made public that he had a love affair with diplomat Margot Löffler.[6] The couple divorced in September 1998, and Klestil married Löffler three months later.[7] When Klestil died in 2004, Wielander attended the funeral service.
Klestil suffered from health issues related to his lungs, including a serious illness in 1996.
Death and burial
The Austrian flag flying at half-staff before the Austrian Parliament Building due to the death of Klestil on 7 July 2004Arms as knight of the Seraphim
On 5 July 2004, three days before he was to leave office, he suffered a heart attack or heart failure, probably caused by his long-term lung problems, and was left in critical condition. He died on 6 July at 23:33 local time at the AKH (Allgemeines Krankenhaus – General Hospital) in Vienna from multiple organ failure.[1]
On 10 July 2004, the funeral service was held in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, and he was interred in the presidential crypt at Vienna's Central Cemetery (Zentralfriedhof). Among the notable dignitaries who attended his funeral were Russian president Vladimir Putin, former Austrian president and UN secretary-general Kurt Waldheim, and Austrian-born Governor of CaliforniaArnold Schwarzenegger.[8] Klestil was the fifth president of Austria to die in office since 1950.
Croatia : Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav ("For outstanding contribution to the promotion of friendship and development co-operation between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Austria." – 2 March 2001)
^Slovak republic website, State honoursArchived 13 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine : 1st Class received in 1998 (click on "Holders of the Order of the 1st Class White Double Cross" to see the holders' table)
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