Franz Harnoncourt, or Harnoncourt-Unverzagt (born 2 August 1937) is an Austrian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Kastner & Öhler department store in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, and president and member of the advisory board of the

Grazer Wechselseitige Versicherung Grazer Wechselseitige Versicherung or Graz Mutual Insurance Company is one of the largest Central European insurance companies. Its headquarters are located in Graz, Austria. History GRAWE was founded in 1828 by Archduke Johann as an "insuranc ...

Life and career

Harnoncourt was born in

, the seventh child of Eberhard Harnoncourt and his wife Ladislaja, née Countess of . He is a brother of the physician Karl Harnoncourt, the late conductor

Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt or historically Johann Nikolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt; () (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music ...

and the late theologian Philipp Harnoncourt. He studied law, promoted to the

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

. He then began work as a tax advisor for , including two years in the U.S. He then worked in department stores, in Germany for

Karstadt Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH was a German department store chain whose headquarters were in Essen. Until 30 September 2010 the company was a subsidiary of Arcandor AG (which was known until 30 June 2007 as KarstadtQuelle AG) and was responsible wi ...

, and for

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

in the UK. He began at the Kastner & Öhler, including jobs such as sales person and storage worker, and served as CEO for decades. From 1982 to 2012, he was also president and member of the supervisory board of the

insurance company. He has been honorary president since. Harnoncourt is a knight of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

, serving as ''Rezeptor'' of Austria. He represents

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

honorary consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

. Harnoncourt is also president of the Graz Musikverein, supporting concerts of classical music. Franz Harnoncourt and Marion née Fogarassy (born 1941), the daughter of Viktor Fogarassy and Dollie Kastner, married in 1965. The couple has five daughters and a son. They supported the project initiated by his brother Philipp to restore the

Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle, Bruck The Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle in Bruck an der Mur, Styria, Austria, is a chapel named for the Holy Spirit. It was built in late-Gothic style, originally dedicated to the Trinity, which explains its unusual triangular floorplan, with three similar wa ...

in Bruck, and he and his wife attended the opening celebration on 7 June 2020.

Awards

* 1999: Großes Goldenes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria) * 2007: * 2012: Großes Goldenes Ehrenzeichen mit dem Stern für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star) * 2012: Bürger der Stadt Graz

References

External links

* Hein Bruns
Descendants of Archduke Johann of Austria
heinbruins.nl * Karlpeter Elis
Graz und die Steiermark / Ihre Geschichte
(in German) graz.elis-management.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Harnoncourt, Franz Austrian chief executives Honorary consuls Harnoncourt, Franz Austrian jurists 1937 births Living people Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Harnoncourt family