Rudolf Anschober (born 21 November 1960) is an Austrian politician of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

who served as Minister of Social Affairs, Health, Care, and Consumer Protection in the second government of

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Sebastian Kurz Sebastian Kurz (; born 27 August 1986) is an Austrian former politician who served twice as Chancellor of Austria, first from 2017 to 2019 and then again from 2020 to 2021. Kurz was born and raised in Meidling, Vienna. He entered politics by ...

from January 2020 to April 2021.

Political career

A former journalist and schoolteacher, Anschober served as a member of the National Council from 1990 until 1997. On 23 October 2003, he became part of the

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

n state government. He was the only councillor in the Upper Austrian government to represent the Greens for 9 years, from the time he was elected until 2012. In September 2012, he took a brief break as councillor to be on sick leave for three months because of burnout. In the government, he was a councillor representing flood protection and energy policy until he left in 2012. In 2015, he took on the responsibilities of integration and accommodation of refugees instead when rejoining the government. Throughout his tenure in the federal government, Anschober worked on the government's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Austria The COVID-19 pandemic in Austria was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). In Austria, a pair of cases were confirmed on 2 ...

. He consistently called for stricter lockdown measures in the face of high infection numbers, clashing with Chancellor Kurz and his party. By April 2021, he was diagnosed as suffering from high blood pressure, high blood sugar and early-stage tinnitus, which led him to resign from his office, effective 19 April 2021. At the time of his resignation, he was one of the country's most popular politicians. He started writing a political novel upon leaving.

Personal life

His partner is Petra Ramsauer, a political scientist and author. They live in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in an apartment. He previously lived in

Steyregg Steyregg is a municipality in the district of Urfahr-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. History The first settlements in the Steyregg area were established during the Neolithic period, as evidenced by archaeological excavations. A ...

when he worked in the Upper Austrian government.

Other activities

* Fonds Gesundes Österreich, Chair of the Board of Trustees (since 2020) *

National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism The National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism () is a fund created by the Republic of Austria to seek to apply restitution for property confiscated by the Nazis during World War II. The fund was established in 19 ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (2020)

Bibliography

Books

References

External links

*
Rudolf Anschober
on the

Austrian Parliament The Austrian Parliament () is the bicameral federal legislature of Austria. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets i ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Anschober, Rudolf Living people 1960 births Health ministers of Austria Ministers of social affairs of Austria The Greens (Austria) politicians People from Wels 21st-century Austrian politicians