Rudolf "Rudi" Vouk (born 19 March 1965) is an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

of Slovene ethnic background, known for his legal and political fight for the minority rights of

Carinthian Slovenes Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians (; ; ) are the Indigenous peoples, indigenous minority of Slovenes, Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of the minority group ...

Biography

He was born in Klagenfurt,

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

, to Carinthian Slovenes parents. After graduating from the Slovene-language high school in his hometown, he went to

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. ...

to study law. After finishing his studies, he returned to Carinthia to open his own private practice. He took particular interest in cases involving the legal rights of his minority. Because of his involvement in the subject, he was elected as member of the Presidency of the political party '' Enotna lista''. In 1997, he became a municipal councilor of

Eberndorf Eberndorf (, archaically ''Dobrla ves'') is a market town of the Völkermarkt District in Carinthia (state), Carinthia, Austria. Geography It is the main settlement in the Jaun (''Podjuna'') Valley of the Drava River, east of the Carinthian capit ...

(''Dobrla vas''), and in 1999, he became the chairman of the National Council of Carinthian Slovenes, one of the two central coordinating organizations of the Slovene ethnic minority in Carinthia. From 2000 to 2003, he was the chairman of the Carithian Slovenes delegacy at the National Minorities Day, but he moved to the role of Vice-Chairman in 2003. With the political influence he gained, he continued to promote the problem of legal rights of his minority at Austria's Constitutional court. Austria received a lot of attention and concern about its handling of its minorities after his protest after the erection of bilingual signs in Sankt Kanzian am Klopeiner See (''Škocijan''), which he considered illegal in this unsatisfactory form. With Vouk as its prime candidate for Carinthia, the party

Liberal forum The Liberal Forum (, LiF) was a centrist, liberal political party in Austria. The party was active from February 1993 to January 2014, when the party merged into NEOS – The New Austria. A member of the Liberal International and the Allianc ...

achieved a result of 1.5% of total votes at the Austrian Parliamentary elections in 2008.Biography for the elections in 2008
,

Personal life

Vouk is married and has two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vouk, Rudi 1965 births Living people Politicians from Klagenfurt Carinthian Slovenes Austrian human rights activists