Margot Klestil-Löffler (born 4 March 1954 in

Dobersberg Dobersberg is a municipality in the district of Waidhofen an der Thaya in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

) is an Austrian diplomat, former

First Lady of Austria First Lady of Austria is the title attributed to the wife (or, in place of a wife, a designee, such as a daughter) of the president of Austria. The current first lady is Doris Schmidauer, wife of President Alexander Van der Bellen, who has held th ...

from 1998 to 2004, and the widow of

Thomas Klestil Thomas Klestil (; 4 November 1932 – 6 July 2004) was an Austrian diplomat and politician who served as President of Austria from 1992 to his death in 2004. He was elected in 1992 and re-elected into office in 1998. Biography until 1992 Born ...

, the former federal president 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 ...

. She served as the Austrian Ambassador to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

from 2004 to 2009 and Ambassador to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

2009 to 2014. She has been serving as Russia envoy under Foreign Minister

Karin Kneissl Karin Kneissl (born 18 January 1965) is an Austrian diplomat, journalist and independent politician, having served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2017 and 2019. She is an expert on the Middle East and was a lecturer before assuming the go ...

since 2018.

Early life and career

Margot Löffler was born in

. Her parents, Karl and Gerda Löffler, were farmers. She speaks German, English, French, Russian and Czech. After her diplomatic career in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, Löffler joined Thomas Klestil's office, who was by that time general secretary in the Austrian ministry of foreign affairs. When Thomas Klestil ran for the presidency in 1992, she was managing his election campaign.

First Lady of Austria

During his first term of office, it became public that Klestil and Löffler had a love affair. Klestil divorced his first wife Edith and married Margot Löffler on 23 December 1998. She became the country's

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

, but continued her job in the foreign ministry, which led to the strange situation that she was ranking higher than her former boss, foreign minister

Benita Ferrero-Waldner Benita Ferrero-Waldner (born 5 September 1948) is an Austrian diplomat and politician, and a member of the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). Ferrero-Waldner served as Foreign Minister of Austria 2000–2004 and was the candidate of th ...

, on state visits or other official occasions. When Thomas Klestil died in office on 6 July 2004, both his wives attended the funeral service held in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, welcomed Edith Klestil first.

Later career

After her husband's death on 6 July 2004, Klestil-Löffler was appointed Austrian

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the

. From December 2009 to December 2014, she was Austrian ambassador to the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Klestil-Löffler made headlines during the 2014 Sochi winter games when she tried to take a family of Puppies from America's silver medalist Gus Kenworthy.

References

, - 1954 births Living people People from Waidhofen an der Thaya District Spouses of presidents of Austria Ambassadors of Austria to the Czech Republic Ambassadors of Austria to Russia Austrian women diplomats Austrian women ambassadors {{Austria-diplomat-stub