Helga Konrad (10 January 1948 – 8 October 2024) was an Austrian politician.

Life and career

Konrad was born and grew up in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. She studied

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

and in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, completing a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in 1975. She worked for the

Chamber for Workers and Employees The Chamber of Labour (German: ''Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte'', shortform ''Arbeiterkammer'' or ''AK''), is an organisation that represents the interests of 4 million Austrian employees and consumers. Membership is compulsory for all em ...

and later the . She was a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

(SPÖ), and in 1987 became a city councillor in Graz. She was elected to the National Council in the

1990 Austrian legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 7 October 1990. The Social Democratic Party won the most seats, and retained the grand coalition with the Austrian People's Party. Voter turnout was 86%.Nohlen & Stöver, p216 Results Results by ...

. Konrad briefly returned to local politics in Graz in 1993 until she succeeded

Johanna Dohnal Johanna Dohnal (14 February 1939 - 20 February 2010) was an Austrian politician and the first Austrian Minister for Women. Personal life Dohnal was born in Vienna on 14 February 1939 to a single mother. On 22 January 2010 she entered into a civ ...

as Federal Minister for Women's Affairs in April 1995 on the government of

Franz Vranitzky Franz Vranitzky (; born 4 October 1937) is an Austrian politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), he was Chancellor of Austria from 1986 to 1997. Early life and career As the son of a foundryman, Vranitzky was born in ...

, remaining in office until the chancellor's resignation in 1997. Konrad's most impactful project was a campaign to promote equal participation in household chores between genders. In 1999 Konrad received the Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Star for Services to the Republic of Austria. Konrad was considered an expert on combating human trafficking. From 2000 until 2004 she led a

Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe The Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe was an institution aimed at strengthening peace, democracy, human rights and economy in the countries of South Eastern Europe from 1999 to 2008. It was replaced by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) ...

task force against human trafficking, and in 2004 was appointed the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

's special representative for the issue. Konrad died on 8 October 2024, at the age of 76.

References

External links

* * 1948 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Austrian women politicians Government ministers of Austria Members of the 18th National Council (Austria) Members of the 20th National Council (Austria) Politicians from Graz Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Star for Services to the Republic of Austria Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians Women government ministers of Austria Women members of the National Council (Austria) {{austria-politician-stub