member of the Austrian parliament
What was the position of Heinz Fischer from Nov 1971 to May 1983?
Heinz Fischer Heinz Fischer GColIH OMRI RSerafO GCollSE ( ; born 9 October 1938 in Graz , Styria ) is a former Austrian politician . He took office as President of Austria on 8 July 2004 and was re-elected for a second and last term on 25 April 2010 , leaving office on 8 July 2016 . Fischer previously served as minister of science from 1983 to 1987 and as president of the National Council of Austria from 1990 to 2002 . A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria ( SPÖ ) , he suspended his party membership for the duration of his presidency . Early life . Fischer was born in Graz , Styria , which had recently become part of Nazi Germany , following Germany’s annexation of Austria in March 1938 . Fischer attended a grammar school which focused on humanities and graduated in 1956 . He studied law at the University of Vienna , earning a doctorate in 1961 . In 1963 , at the age of 25 , Fischer spent a year volunteering at Kibbutz Sarid , northern Israel . Apart from being a politician , Fischer also pursued an academic career , and became a professor of Political Science at the University of Innsbruck in 1994 . Political career . Fischer was a member of the Austrian parliament , the National Council , from 1971 , and served as its president from 1990 to 2002 . From 1983 to 1987 he was minister of science in a coalition government headed by Fred Sinowatz . First term as president . In January 2004 Fischer announced that he would run for president to succeed Thomas Klestil . He was elected on 25 April 2004 as the candidate of the opposition Social Democratic Party . He polled 52.4 per cent of the votes to defeat Benita Ferrero-Waldner , then foreign minister in the ruling conservative coalition led by the Peoples Party . Fischer was sworn in on 8 July 2004 and took over office from the college of presidents of the National Council , who had acted for the president following Klestils death on 6 July . Fischers critics , foremost among them Norbert Leser , his university colleague , have derided him as a career politician ( Berufspolitiker ) who has never been in touch with the real world . They claim that Fischer has always avoided controversy and conflict , even when that seemed required , pointing to Fischers tacit support for Bruno Kreisky in his attacks on Simon Wiesenthal . On being nominated for president , Fischer said that he hated antagonising people and that he considered this quality an asset rather than anything else . Second term as president . In April 2010 , Fischer was re-elected president of Austria , winning a second six-year term in office with almost 79% of the votes . The voter turnout of merely 53.6% was a record low . Around a third of those eligible to vote voted for Fischer , leading the conservative daily Die Presse to describe the election as an absolute majority for non-voters . The reasons behind the low turnout may have been that pollsters had predicted a safe victory for Fischer ( past Austrian presidents running for a second term had always won ) and that the other large party , ÖVP , had not nominated a candidate of their own , and had not endorsed any of the three candidates . Prominent ÖVP members , unofficially but in public , even suggested to cast a blank vote , which 7% of the voters did . Personal life . Fischer identifies himself as agnostic and as a social democrat . Heinz Fischer and Margit Binder married in 1968 . The couple have two grown children . Fischer enjoys mountaineering and has been president of the Austrian Friends of Nature for many years . Honours and awards . National Honours . Federal Order . - 2004 Grand Star of Honour of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria ( Austria ) State Honours . - 2008 Ring of Honour of the Province of Styria - 2008 Freedom of the City of Graz Awards . - 2009 Florianiplakette of the Austrian Federal Fire Association in gold Foreign Honours . Foreign Orders . - 1993 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( Italy ) - 2005 Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry ( Portugal ) - 2005 Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic ( Spain ) - 2006 Grand Cross of the Order of the Order of the White Rose of Finland ( Finland ) - 2006 Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary ( Hungary ) - 2006 Collar of the Order pro merito Melitensi ( Sovereign Military Order of Malta ) - 2007 Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( Italy ) - 2007 Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St . Olav ( Norway ) - 2007 Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim ( Sweden ) - 2009 Grand Cross with Golden Chain of the Order of Vytautas the Great ( Lithuania ) - 2009 Grand Collar of the Order of Saint James of the Sword ( Portugal ) - 2009 Grand Collar of the Order of the White Lion ( Czech Republic ) - 2012 Collar of the Order of Merit ( Chile ) - 2013 Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour ( France ) - 2013 Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau ( Luxembourg ) - 2014 National Flag Order ( Albania ) - 2015 Grand Collar of the Order of the Condor of the Andes ( Bolivia ) - 2016 Order of Stara Planina ( Bulgaria ) Foreign Awards . - 2008 Honorary Doctorate of Law Faculty of the University of Tel Aviv - 2009 Honorary Doctorate from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences