Kurt Steyrer (June 3, 1920 – July 16, 2007) was an Austrian politician,

health minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...

and

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

presidential candidate. Steyrer was born on June 3, 1920, in the city of

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 ...

. He studied medicine 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 ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

before opening up his own practice in

dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...

. His medical background paved the way for him to serve as the health and environment minister of

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 ...

. Steyrer was one of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. He ran unsuccessfully as the Social Democratic candidate for

president of Austria The president of Austria (german: Bundespräsident der Republik Österreich) is the head of state of the Republic of Austria. Though theoretically entrusted with great power by the Constitution, in practice the president is largely a ceremonial ...

in 1986, losing to former

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

Kurt Waldheim Kurt Josef Waldheim (; 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and president of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for th ...

. Steyrer died in Vienna in 2007 after a brief illness. His death was initially reported by the

Austria Press Agency The Austria Press Agency (german: Austria Presse Agentur, APA) is the national news agency and the leading information provider in Austria. It is owned by Austrian newspapers and the national broadcaster ORF. Journalists Fatalities See also ...

and the

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

. Waldheim, his 1986 presidential opponent, died a little more than a month before Steyrer in June 2007.

References

External links

Wiener Zeitung: Kurt Steyrer, former SPÖ presidential candidate, dead
1920 births 2007 deaths Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians Candidates for President of Austria {{Austria-politician-stub