Nikolaus Scherak (born 16 October 1986) is an Austrian politician of

NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum (german: NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum) is a liberal political party in Austria. It was founded as NEOS – The New Austria in 2012. In 2014, NEOS merged with Liberal Forum and adopte ...

who has been a member of the National Council since 2013. Between 2018 and 2021, he served as co-deputy chairman of NEOS. Prior, he was the leader of JuLis – Young Liberals Austria, a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

youth organisation, which under his leadership, became the

youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...

of NEOS.

Personal life

Scherak grew up in

Baden bei Wien Baden (German for " Baths"; Central Bavarian: ''Bodn''), unofficially distinguished from other Badens as Baden bei Wien (Baden near Vienna), is a spa town in Austria. It serves as the capital of Baden District in the state of Lower Austria. Loc ...

and graduated from 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 ...

in 2004. After a year of civil service as a paramedic with the Red Cross Vienna, he began a master's degree at the Juridicum of 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 ...

, which he completed in 2010. He completed a doctorate in law at the University of Vienna and a master's degree in human rights at the Danube University in Krems.

Political career

Scherak has been involved with the Young Liberals Austria (JuLis) since the 2009 European elections. From July 2009 to November 2010, he was deputy federal chairman of the organisation. In October 2010, he was elected federal chairman. Under Scherak's leadership, the JuLis aligned itself with the newly-founded NEOS – The New Austria. At the party's founding congress in 2012, Scherak was appointed to the party board. Shortly thereafter, the JuLis joined a joint electoral list with NEOS and the

Liberal Forum The Liberal Forum (german: Liberales Forum, LiF) was a centrist, Liberalism in Austria, liberal political party in Austria. The party was active from February 1993 to January 2014, when the party merged into NEOS – The New Austria. A member ...

for the 2013 federal election. Schwerak was NEOS spokesman of Lower Austria and the top candidate in

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 ...

, and was elected to the National Council. From 2014, he was deputy chairman of the NEOS parliamentary group. After the merger of NEOS and the Liberal Forum in January 2014, the JuLis voted 98.7% in favour of becoming the party's youth wing. It was renamed ''JUNOS – Young liberal NEOS''; at the same time, Scherak was re-elected as chairman. Later in the year, he resigned and was succeeded by deputy chairman

Douglas Hoyos-Trauttmansdorff Douglas Hoyos-Trauttmansdorff (born 8 September 1990) is an Austrian politician of NEOS – The New Austria. He has served as a member of the National Council since 2017 and general-secretary of NEOS since 2021. Previously, he was president of ...

. He was followed in November 2016 by Indra Collini as Lower Austria's NEOS spokesman. After

Beate Meinl-Reisinger Beate Meinl-Reisinger (born 25 April 1978) is an Austrian politician serving as leader of NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum since June 2018. She is also the leader of the party's parliamentary group in the National Council since 2018. Pre ...

became federal chairwoman of NEOS in October 2018, Scherak was elected deputy chairman, alongside Sepp Schellhorn. He left office in 2021 but remained deputy chair of the NEOS parliamentary group.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scherak, Nikolaus 1986 births Living people People from Baden bei Wien University of Vienna alumni 21st-century Austrian politicians Members of the National Council (Austria) NEOS – The New Austria politicians