Christoph Leitl (born 29 March 1949 in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or 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, a ...

) is an Austrian politician. A member of the

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 ...

, he is the former president of the

Austrian Federal Economic Chamber The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber ( de: ''Wirtschaftskammer Österreich'' or WKO) functions as the federal parent organization for the nine State Chambers and 110 trade associations for different industries within Austria's system of economy. ...

and president of

EUROCHAMBRES Eurochambres is thAssociation of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry The association is one of the largest business representative organisations in Brussels, representing over 20 million businesses in Europe through 45 members (43 national a ...

since 2018.

Life

Leitl has been married to Erni since 1973 and father of two children. He graduated from the

Johannes Kepler University The Johannes Kepler University Linz (German: ''Johannes Kepler Universität Linz'', short: ''JKU'') is a public institution of higher education in Austria. It is located in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. It offers bachelor's, master's, d ...

Linz in 1971 with a

Magister degree A magister degree (also magistar, female form: magistra; from la, magister, "teacher") is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education. The magister degree arose in medieval universities in Europe and was originally equal to the ...

and earned his doctorate in Economic and Social Sciences at the same university in 1973. Leitl served as president of Bauhütte Leitl-Werke Ges.m.b.H., a medium-sized company in the construction materials business owned by his family, from 1977 to 1990.

Politics

Leitl has always been known for his "fervent European perspective". Since the 1960s, he has been politically involved in European youth and entrepreneurs movements. From 1985 to 1990, Leitl was MP in the Upper Austria state legislature. In 1990, he became minister of Economic Affairs of the same state. From 1995 to 2000, Leitl concurrently served as Vice-Governor of Upper Austria. Leitl was elected Vice-President of the Austrian People's Party branch of Upper Austria in 1990. In 1999, Leitl won the presidential election of the Österreichischer Wirtschaftsbund, the economic branch of the

. This cleared the way for Leitl to assume the presidency of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in 2000. He was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. During two election periods, from 2002 to 2005, Leitl also served as president of the European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAMBRES), who named him honorary president in 2006.FORMAT (in German)
/ref> He was re-elected as president of the same business organization in 2018. In May 2013, Leitl became a Honorary Member of

SME Europe SME Europe (Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Europe) is the official business association of the European People's Party with the aim of defending the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises at European level. The organisation was founded in ...

, the business organization of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

References

External links

Official biography

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leitl, Christoph Living people 1949 births Austrian People's Party politicians Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Politicians from Linz Johannes Kepler University Linz alumni