Margot Klestil-Löffler (born 4 March 1954 in Dobersberg,

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

) is an Austrian diplomat, former First Lady of Austria 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 the president of Austria from 1992 until his death in 2004. He was elected in 1992 and re-elected in 1998. Early life and career Born in V ...

, the former federal president of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. She served as the Austrian Ambassador to the

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

from 2004 to 2009 and Ambassador to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

2009 to 2014. She has been serving as Russia envoy under Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl since 2018.

Early life and career

Margot Löffler was born in Dobersberg,

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

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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 estim ...

, 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 Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English word , meaning ''wealth'' or ''prosperity'', in combination with the Old English , meaning ''wiktionary:strife, strife'', and is in common usage in this form in English language, Englis ...

and married Margot Löffler on 23 December 1998. She became the country's first lady, 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, 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 Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert Schönborn, OP (; born 22 January 1945) is a Bohemian-born Austrian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Vienna from 1995 until 2025. He was chairman of the Austrian Bishops' Conferen ...

, 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 so ...

to the

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

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. 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 Augustus Richard Kenworthy (born October 1, 1991) is a British-American former freestyle skiing, freestyle skier, actor, and YouTuber. He has competed in slopestyle, halfpipe, and big air. Kenworthy won the Olympic medal, silver medal in men's s ...

Honours

* Portugal: Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

(2003)

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