Jodok Fink (19 February 1853 – 1 July 1929) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n farmer and politician who was a member of the Christian Social Party of Austria (CS). He served as first

Vice-Chancellor of Austria The vice-chancellor of Austria is a member of the Government of Austria and is the deputy to the Chancellor. It is functionally equivalent to a deputy prime minister in other countries with parliamentary systems. Description of the office Art. 6 ...

from 1919 to 1920.

Life

Fink was born in

Andelsbuch Andelsbuch is a municipality in the district of Bregenz in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Population Initiatives The Werkraum Bregenzerwald is an association of craftsmen in the Bregenz Forest founded in 1999. It aims at networking and ...

, in the

Bregenz Forest The Bregenz Forest (german: Bregenzerwald, ) is one of the main regions in the state of Vorarlberg (Austria). It overlaps, but is not coterminous with, the Bregenz Forest Mountains, which belong to a range of the Northern Limestone Alps, specific ...

region, the son of a farmer's family. He and his younger brother Alois were the only surviving children; his father died when Fink was four years old, whereafter his mother remarried. The bright pupil went on to attend the Gymnasium secondary school in

Brixen Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic an ...

but soon had to abandon his education to work on his family's farmstead. Fink began his political career in 1879, when he was elected a member of the municipal assembly (''Gemeindeausschuss'') in Andelsbuch and served as mayor from 1888 to 1897. Actually a moderate

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, he joined the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

assembly of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

in 1890 and the newly established Christian Social Party in 1893. He was elected MP of the Austrian Imperial Council parliament in 1897 where he did not join the faction of his antiliberal and antisemitic Christian Social party fellows until 1901. His career as a CS party executive was further promoted, when the long-time leader

Karl Lueger Karl Lueger (; 24 October 1844 – 10 March 1910) was an Austrian politician, mayor of Vienna, and leader and founder of the Austrian Christian Social Party. He is credited with the transformation of the city of Vienna into a modern city. The pop ...

died in 1910. During the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Fink was elected one of the three presidents of the German-Austrian provisional national assembly on 21 October 1918. He made his mark as a strong opponent of a unification with the German

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

, though against the majority of the assembly, and also spoke against tendencies to attach his Allemannic home country Vorarlberg to Switzerland. Upon the Austrian Constitutional Assembly election, Fink on 15 March 1919 was able to forge a grand coalition government with the left-wing Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) under State Chancellor

Karl Renner Karl Renner (14 December 1870 – 31 December 1950) was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republic" because he led the first government of German ...

and to assume the newly established office of an Austrian Vice-Chancellor. Fink played a vital role in Austrian internal politics during the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, becoming CS faction leader in the National Council parliament, which ratified the treaty on 17 October 1919. Accompanied by fierce protests, Chancellor Renner and his government resigned, though another cabinet of Social Democratic and Christian Social ministers under Renner and Fink was immediately formed and confirmed by the National Council. Fink was superseded by his party fellow

Michael Mayr Michael Mayr (10 April 1864 – 21 May 1922) was an Austrian politician, who served as Chancellor of Austria in the First Austrian Republic from July 1920 to June 1921. He was a member of the Christian Social Party, and by profession a historia ...

, when Renner's coalition government finally broke up on 7 July 1920. Upon the legislative election of 1920 on 17 October, Mayr formed a minority government backed by the right-wing

Greater German People's Party The Greater German People's Party ( German ''Großdeutsche Volkspartei'', abbreviated GDVP) was a German nationalist and national liberal political party during the First Republic of Austria, established in 1920. Foundation After World War I an ...

and Fink during the subsequent period of political radicalisation no longer held any government offices, but remained considered an ''

éminence grise An ''éminence grise'' () or grey eminence is a powerful decision-maker or adviser who operates "behind the scenes", or in a non-public or unofficial capacity. This phrase originally referred to François Leclerc du Tremblay, the right-hand man ...

'' and power broker.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Jodok 1853 births 1929 deaths People from Bregenz District Christian Social Party (Austria) politicians Vice-Chancellors of Austria Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1897–1900) Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1901–1907) Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1907–1911) Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1911–1918) Members of the Provisional National Assembly Members of the Constituent National Assembly (Austria) Members of the National Council (Austria) Austrian farmers Commanders of the Order of Franz Joseph