Hans Lauda (25 March 1896 – 21 January 1974) was an Austrian industrialist who co-founded the

Federation of Austrian Industries The Federation of Austrian Industries ( de: ''Industriellenvereinigung'', short form IV) is the voluntary and independent representation of interests of Austrian industry and its related sectors. The IV maintains a wide net of contacts and relation ...

and served as president from 1946 to 1960. He was the paternal grandfather of

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Champion

Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...

Early life

Hans Lauda was born on 25 March 1896 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. His father

Ernst Lauda Ernst Ritter von Lauda (born Ernst Philipp Johann Lauda, 15 August 18593 July 1932), was an Austrian hydraulic and bridge engineer who was an adviser to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. He was awarded the Order of Franz Joseph and the second ...

worked in

hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the mov ...

and bridge construction. Lauda studied at the

Theresianum Theresianum (or Theresian Academy; german: Theresianische Akademie) is a private boarding and day school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1746 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. History Early h ...

, and the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, where he earned a doctorate in law. He was known as "Old Lauda". He was interested in Formula One, and drove to the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

and to

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

to watch Formula One races.

Career

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Lauda served in the Austrian

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

. After the war, he worked for as a commercial secretary, between 1923 and 1925. He then worked for ''Österreichisch-Amerikanischen Magnesit AG''. In 1937, he became the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of Veitscher. After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

, Lauda was removed from his position in the company. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Lauda was reinstated as general manager of Veitscher, and Lauda built a papermaking empire there. In 1946, Lauda co-founded the

(IV), and was president of the organisation until 1960. In 1949, he was cited in a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' report on the progress of the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

. He reported that Austria would employ 20,000 former government officials. He served as chairman of the Association of Industrialists, and in 1951, he proposed a successful bill to freeze wages, to try and counteract inflation in the country. In this role, Lauda was sceptical of the

European Free Trade Association The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerlan ...

, of which Austria was one of the seven founding members. Lauda saw EFTA as an interim measure. Lauda was also a president of the

Austrian Red Cross The Austrian Red Cross (German: ''Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz'', ÖRK) is the national Red Cross Organization in Austria and is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It was established on March 14, 1880, by Doctor Adam L ...

, from 1956 to 1974.

Relationship with Niki Lauda

Hans Lauda was the paternal grandfather of

World Champion

. Aged 10, Niki accused Hans of "double standards" after he accepted a medal of honour from socialist mayor of Vienna Felix Slavik, someone that Hans was not fond of. Hans was critical of Niki's Formula One ambitions, saying that "A Lauda should be on the economic pages of the newspaper, not the sports pages." In 1971, Hans and Niki Lauda had an argument, after Hans vetoed funding for Niki to pay for a drive in the

1972 Formula One season The 1972 Formula One season was the 26th season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 23rd World Championship of Drivers, the 15th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races. The World ...

with

March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better success in other categories ...

. The pair never spoke again. Hans Lauda died in 1974, roughly three months before Niki's first Formula One victory at the

1974 Spanish Grand Prix The 1974 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 28 April 1974 at the Circuito Permanente del Jarama near Madrid, Spain. It was race 4 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula ...

. In the 2013 biographical sports film ''

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

'', Hans Lauda is embodied by German actor in a supporting role as "Grandfather Lauda", rejecting Niki's Formula One ambitions in dialogue. His first name is not mentioned.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauda, Hans Austrian industrialists 1896 births 1974 deaths Businesspeople from Vienna Lauda family University of Vienna alumni