Madeleine Petrovic (; born 25 June 1956) 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 ...

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 ...

. From 1994 to 1996 she was federal spokesperson of the

Austrian Green Party 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: ...

. She attended

n gymnasium which she finished 1974, and studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at 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 ...

, finishing in 1978. She then studied

management science Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...

at the

Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration The Vienna University of Economics and Business (german: Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, WU) is a public research university in Vienna, Austria, the largest university focusing on business, management and economics in Europe. It has been ranked as ...

, finishing in 1982. She received an additional diploma as certified interpreter for

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French. After working as assistant and

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...

at the university, she was employed by the Ministry of Social Affairs. During the first

mailbomb A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb, package bomb, note bomb, message bomb, gift bomb, present bomb, delivery bomb, surprise bomb, postal bomb, or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with ...

series of Austrian terrorist

Franz Fuchs Franz Fuchs (12 December 1949 – 26 February 2000) was an Austrian domestic terrorist who killed four people and injured 15, some seriously, using three improvised explosive devices and 24 mail bombs, which he sent in five waves between 1993 an ...

, on December 5, 1993 a mailbomb targeted at her was discovered and neutralized. The same day

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

's mayor

Helmut Zilk Helmut Zilk (9 June 1927, Vienna – 24 October 2008, Vienna) was an Austrian journalist and politician in the Austrian Social Democratic Party. He served as mayor of Vienna between 1984 and 1994. Biography Born in Vienna, Zilk was Mayor of ...

was seriously injured by another mailbomb.

Political career

From 1986 to 1987 Petrovic was politically engaged in the

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, seve ...

Greens. 1987 she became federal state chairwoman of the

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

Greens. In 1990 she became Member of the

National Council of Austria The National Council (german: Nationalrat) is one of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament and is frequently referred to as the lower house. The Politics of Austria, constitution endows the National Council with far more power than the Federa ...

(Nationalrat). In 1994 and 1995 she was leading candidate during the campaign to the National Council elections. From 1994 to 1996 she was federal spokesperson of the Austrian Greens. Until 1999 she was chairwoman of the parliamentary club of the Greens in the national council. Since 2001 she has been vice-spokesperson for the Austrian Greens.

Notes and references

1956 births Living people 20th-century Austrian women politicians 20th-century Austrian politicians 21st-century Austrian women politicians 21st-century Austrian politicians The Greens – The Green Alternative politicians Vienna University of Economics and Business alumni Politicians from Vienna {{Austria-politician-stub