Andreas Khol (born 14 July 1941) is 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 politician of the centre-conservative

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...

, President of the National Council from 2002 to 2006. Andreas Khol was born in

Bergen auf Rügen Bergen auf Rügen is the capital of the former district of Rügen in the middle of the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. Since 1 January 2005, Bergen has moreover been the administrative seat of the ''Amt'' of Bergen auf ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and raised in the town of

Sterzing Sterzing (; it, Vipiteno ) is a comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is the main town of the southern Wipptal, and the Eisack River flows through the medieval town. History Origin The town traces its roots to 14 B.C., when Nero Claudius ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. His family subsequently relocated to

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, where Khol attended school (

Akademisches Gymnasium Innsbruck The Akademisches Gymnasium Innsbruck is a Public school (government funded)#Germany, public Gymnasium (school), gymnasium Grammar School, grammar school in Innsbruck, Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria. Founded in 1562 by the Jesuits in the course ...

) and served as a Boy Scout. Trained as a lawyer, Andreas Khol achieved a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

as a student of

Felix Ermacora Felix Ermacora (13 October 1923 – 24 February 1995) was a leading human rights expert of Austria and a member of the Austrian People's Party. Biography In his youth, Ermacora served in the army of Nazi Germany at the rank of private. He wa ...

. One of the most senior politicians of his party, he held the position of the first president of the

National Council of Austria The National Council (german: Nationalrat) is one of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament and is frequently referred to as the lower house. The Politics of Austria, constitution endows the National Council with far more power than the Federa ...

between 2002 and 2006. Along with former chancellor

Wolfgang Schüssel Wolfgang Schüssel (; born 7 June 1945) is an Austrian People's Party politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007. While being recognised as a rare example of an active reformer in conte ...

, he held considerable power within the Austrian People's Party. Andreas Khol assumed the post of head of the Senior Citizens Organisation in the Austrian People's Party. He resigned from the post after he accepted the nomination to stand as candidate for the post of Federal President in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. He immediately challenged the government's open door policy on accepting refugees and managed to bring about a U-turn both in his Party and the Government. Despite this he came one but last in the presidential race gaining just over 11 percent of the vote trailing behind the Social Democratic candidate. Internal squabbles in the ÖVP and a lack of engagement by the party machine were cited as reasons as well as a swell in support for the far right candidate

Norbert Hofer Norbert Gerwald Hofer (; born 2 March 1971) is an Austrian politician who served as Leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) from June 2019 to June 2021. He previously was Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology from 2017 to 2019 ...

(FPÖ) who topped the poll. Visibly shaken on election night, Khol announced he would no longer play an active role in politics. Khol is proficient in English and French and is editor of an annual political science book called the Austrian Politics Yearbook. A member of A.V. Raeto-Bavaria Innsbruck, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

fraternity that belongs to the

Cartellverband The Union of Catholic German Student Fraternities (german: Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen or ''Cartellverband'' (CV)) is a German umbrella organization of Catholic male student fraternities (Studentenverbindung). ...

, Andreas Khol is known to be religious and has often voiced conservative opinions on

social policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

. He represents the Catholic-conservative wing of his party. His youngest son Julian is an internationally known male model and married with Turkish TV host

Nazan Eckes Nazan Khol ( Üngör; born 9 May 1976), better known as Nazan Eckes, is a German television presenter. Career Eckes, daughter of Turkish immigrants from Eskişehir, completed her ''Abitur'' high school diploma in 1995 in Leverkusen, where her f ...

. Andreas Khol has six children, three boys and three girls and 15 grandchildren.

Honours and awards

* 1992 - : Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver of the Order of Merit of the Austrian Republic * 1998 - : Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star Order of Merit of the Austrian Republic * : Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

References

1941 births Austrian People's Party politicians Austrian Roman Catholics Candidates for President of Austria Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Living people Members of the National Council (Austria) Officiers of the Légion d'honneur People from Sterzing Presidents of the National Council (Austria) University of Innsbruck alumni University of Vienna alumni {{Austria-politician-stub