Martin Bartenstein (born 3 June 1953) is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

businessman and politician who held different cabinet portfolios between 1995 and 2008. He is 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 ...

Early life and education

Bartenstein was born 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 ...

on 3 June 1953. He obtained a PhD in chemistry from the University of Graz in 1978.

Career

Bartenstein started his career at his family's company, Lannacher Heilmittel GmbH, in 1978 and worked there until 1995. He also founded his own firm, Genericon, in 1986. In 1991 Bartenstein became a member of the Austrian parliament for the

. He served as the minister of environment and public economy from May 1995 to 1996. He was minister of environment, youth, and family affairs from 1996 to 2000. In this post he served first in the cabinet of Franz Vranitzky and then in the cabinet of

Viktor Klima Viktor Klima (born 4 June 1947) is an Austrian Social Democrat politician and businessman. He was chancellor of Austria from 1997 to 2000. Early career Born in Schwechat, Lower Austria, Klima started working for the then state-owned OMV oil com ...

. Then he was named minister of economy and labor in 2000. He retained his post in the

coalition cabinet A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

formed by Prime Minister Wolfgang Schüssel in March 2003. On 11 January 2007 he became again minister of economy and labor in the coalition cabinet led by Prime Minister

Alfred Gusenbauer Alfred Gusenbauer (born 8 February 1960) is an Austrian politician who until 2008 spent his entire professional life as an employee of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) or as a parliamentary representative. He headed the SPÖ from 200 ...

. In 2012, Bartenstein was made the traffic affairs spokesman of the Austrian People's Party.

Personal life

Bartenstein married Ilse Bartenstein in 1983 and they have five children, a daughter and four sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartenstein, Martin 20th-century Austrian businesspeople 21st-century Austrian businesspeople 21st-century Austrian politicians 1953 births Austrian People's Party politicians Government ministers of Austria Living people Members of the Austrian Parliament Politicians from Graz University of Graz alumni