Rudolf "Rudi" Vouk, (born 19 March 1965) is an

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 ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

of Slovene ethnic background, known for his legal and political fight for the minority rights of

Carinthian Slovenes Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians ( sl, Koroški Slovenci; german: Kärntner Slowenen) are the indigenous minority of Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of t ...

Biography

He was born in

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

, to

Carinthian Slovene Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians ( sl, Koroški Slovenci; german: Kärntner Slowenen) are the indigenous minority of Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of ...

s parents. After graduating from the Slovene-language high school in his hometown, he went to

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

to study law. After finishing his studies, he returned to Carinthia to open his own private practice. He took particular interest in cases involving the legal rights of his minority. Because of his involvement in the subject, he was elected as member of the Presidency of the political party ''

Enotna lista The Unity List ( Slovene: ''Enotna lista'', german: Einheitsliste) or EL seeks to represent the indigenous Slovene minority in Carinthia. It came into existence in 1991, replacing the "Club of Slovenian Local Councillors" (Slovene: , German: ), ...

''. In 1997, he became a municipal councilor of

Eberndorf Eberndorf ( sl, Dobrla vas, archaically ''Dobrla ves'') is a market town of the Völkermarkt District in Carinthia, Austria. Geography It is the main settlement in the Jaun (''Podjuna'') Valley of the Drava River, east of the Carinthian capita ...

(''Dobrla vas''), and in 1999, he became the chairman of the

National Council of Carinthian Slovenes National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, one of the two central coordinating organizations of the Slovene ethnic minority in Carinthia. From 2000 to 2003, he was the chairman of the Carithian Slovenes delegacy at the National Minorities Day, but he moved to the role of Vice-Chairman in 2003. With the political influence he gained, he continued to promote the problem of legal rights of his minority at Austria's Constitutional court. Austria received a lot of attention and concern about its handling of its minorities after his protest after the erection of bilingual signs in

Sankt Kanzian am Klopeiner See Sankt Kanzian am Klopeiner See ( sl, Škocjan v Podjuni) is a municipality in the district of Völkermarkt in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Geography Sankt Kanzian lies in the Jaun valley south of the Völkermarkt Reservoir about 7 km fro ...

(''Škocijan''), which he considered illegal in this unsatisfactory form. With Vouk as its prime candidate for Carinthia, the party

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 ...

achieved a result of 1.5% of total votes at the Austrian Parliamentary elections in 2008.Biography for the elections in 2008
,

Personal life

Vouk is married and has two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vouk, Rudi 1965 births Living people Politicians from Klagenfurt Carinthian Slovenes Austrian human rights activists