Theodor Körner (1873-1957)
Federal President from 1951 until 1957
Like his father, Theodor Körner, born near Komarno, Hungary, chose the career of an army officer. He rose to colonel in the Austro-Hungarian service and was chief of staff to the Isonzo Army in the First World War. Having contributed substantially to the establishment of the new Republic’s armed forces, he retired with the rank of general in 1924. Subsequently , he worked as a Social Democratic party activist in addition to his functions as a member of the municipal assembly of the City of Vienna and as a member of the Bundesrat, the upper chamber of the federal Parliament; he also became a military adviser to the Schutzbund, the Socialist paramilitary organisation. In 1934, he was imprisoned for a lengthy period. In 1945, he became Mayor of Vienna, which he remained until he was elected Federal President on 27 May 1951 - the first President of Austria to be elected directly by the people. He died on 4 January 1957, shortly before the end of his first term of office.
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