Alfred Gusenbauer

Alfred Gusenbauer (born February 8, 1960 in St. Pölten, Austria) is an Austrian politician of the Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (SPÖ) (Social Democrats) and was Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor) for 23 months in 2007-2008.

Biography

In 1978, after public school, Alfred Gusenbauer began studies at the Universität Wien (Vienna University) (Politics, Philosophy, and Law) which he finished in 1987 with his promotion to Dr.phil. with a dissertation (in political sciences) on the peace movement of the 80s (Die österreichische Friedensbewegung. Träger, Strukturen und Aktivitäten zwischen 1980 und 1986.).

In 1981 he became an employee of the Social Democrats. His political career began as chair of the social youth organization (Sozialistische Jugend (SJ)), various other political positions in party organizations followed. Finally, from 2000 to 2008 he was Bundesparteivorsitzender (federal chair) of the SPÖ.

He was a member of the Bundesrat (Feb. 21, 1991 - Jan. 28, 1993), from which he changed to the Nationalrat (Sessions XVIII-XXIII, Jan. 29, 1993 - Jan. 15, 2007) where he served as chair for the SPÖ club from 2000 until his appointment as Bundeskanzler (Jan. 11, 2007 - Dec. 2, 2008).