From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This list is rather generous -- many people on this list can also claim other nationalities; some were born in Austria, but spent the most important part of their lives outside Austria (e.g. Hitler, Schwarzenegger), others were born outside Austria or even outside of Austria-Hungary, but spent the most important part of their lives in Austria (e.g. Beethoven, Elisabeth of Austria).
Famous Austrians include:
- Alfred Adler father of Individual Psychology
- Franz Antel, filmmaker
- Marie Antoinette born in Vienna, became Queen of France
- Leon Askin, actor
- Ingeborg Bachmann, poet, 1926-1973
- Ludwig van Beethoven composer, born in Bonn but spent most of his life in Vienna
- Alban Berg, composer, 1885-1935, born in Vienna
- Thomas Bernhard, dramatist, novelist, poet, 1931-1989, born in Cloister Heerlen, Netherlands
- Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist, 1844-1906, born in Vienna
- Klaus Maria Brandauer actor
- Martin Buber, philosopher, 1878-1965, born in Vienna
- Fritjof Capra, physicist
- Heimito von Doderer, writer, 1896-1966, born in Hadersdorf-Weidlingau near Vienna
- Engelbert Dolfuss, politician, 1892-1934, born in Texing
- Christian Andreas Doppler, physicist, 1803-1853, born in Salzburg
- Paul Ehrenfest, physicist & mathematician
- Elisabeth of Austria ("Sisi") born in Munich (Bavaria)
- Falco (1957-1998), pop musician
- Viktor Frankl father of logotherapy
- Sigmund Freud father of psychoanalysis
- Ernst Fuchs, painter and sculptor, born in Vienna, 1930
- Gaston Glock, inventor, founder of Glock
- Kurt Gödel mathematician (born in Austria-Hungary, became naturalized U.S. citizen)
- Heinrich Gomperz, philosopher, 1873-1942, born in Vienna
- Friedrich Gulda, pianist and composer, born in 1930 in Vienna
- Eduard Haas inventor of PEZ
- Otto Habsburg-Lothringen
- Liane Haid, first Austrian movie star
- Peter Handke, author, born in 1942 in Griffen (Carinthia)
- Rudolf Hausner, painter and graphic artist, 1914-1995
- Joseph Haydn Composer of the former "Imperial Hymn" now German Hymn
- Friedrich Hayek, Nobel Prize winner (economics)
- Gottfried Helnwein, artist, born in Vienna, 1948
- Theodor Herzl "founder" of Israel, lived most of his life in Austria
- Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933-1945, born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn
- Alfred Hrdlicka, sculptor and graphic artist, born in Vienna, 1928
- Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist, 1928-2000, born in Vienna
- Udo Jürgens, singer-songwriter
- Walter Jurmann, composer
- Franz Kafka, writer, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (wrote in German)
- Viktor Kaplan inventor of turbines for river power plants
- Gustav Klimt artist, helped found Vienna Secession
- Franz Klammer, downhill skier, born in Mooswald (Carinthia), 1953
- Ludwig von Köchel writer, composer, botanist, music historian
- Franz Cardinal König, Archbishop of Vienna (1956-1985)
- Oskar Kokoschka, painter, 1886-1980, born in Pöchlarn (Lower Austria)
- Johann Korbuly inventor of matador (special wooden toy)
- Karl Kraus, essayist, poet, dramatist, 1874-1936
- Bruno Kreisky, Chancellor of Austria (1970-1983)
- Hedy Lamarr (1913-2000), actress; also co-inventor of spread spectrum radio technology
- Karl Landsteiner, physician, serologist, Nobel Prize winner, 1886-1943
- Niki Lauda (born 1949), race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
- Konrad Zacharias Lorenz zoologist, Nobel prize 1973 (physiology/medicine)
- Josef Madersberger invented the sewing-machine in 1818
- Alma Mahler, wife and muse to Mahler, Gropius, Werfel
- Gustav Mahler composer
- Sigfried Marcus inventor of automobile in 1864 in Vienna, lived most of his life in Austria
- Lise Meitner physicist
- Gregor Mendel pioneer of genetics
- Klemens Wenzel von Metternich diplomat
- Ludwig von Mises free-market economist
- Inge Morath, photographer
- Leopold Mozart composer & musician
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composer & musician
- Robert Musil writer
- Thomas Muster (born 1967), tennis champion
- Hermann Nitsch, artist, painter, born in Vienna, 1938
- Wolfgang Pauli Nobel prize winner (Physics, 1945)
- Alf Poier artist and stand-up comedian
- Karl Popper philosopher (born in Austria, became British)
- Ferdinand Porsche automotive engineer, designed the Volkswagen (the "people's car"), born in Austria-Hungary
- Otto Preminger, film director
- Arnulf Rainer, painter, born 1929
- Otto Rank pioneer psychologist
- Jochen Rindt race car driver
- Toni Sailer, 1956 Olympic Games - Won all three gold medals earning himself the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing ; born 1935
- Egon Schiele, painter, 1890-1918
- Günther Schifter, radio personality
- Arthur Schnitzler writer
- Erwin Schrödinger physicist and Nobel Prize winner
- Franz Schubert composer & musician
- Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, architect and political activist
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (born 1947), bodybuilder, actor, and politician (became naturalized U.S. citizen)
- Romy Schneider, actress (Sissi)
- Paul Schwarzkopf, inventor of powder metallurgy
- Othmar Spann, philosopher and economist
- Fritz Spiegl, journalist
- Rudolf Steiner mystic & philosopher
- Josef von Sternberg, film director, 1894-1969
- Johann Strauss, Sr, 1809-1849, Johann Strauss, Jr, 1825-1899, and Josef Strauss, 1827-1870, the "Waltz Kings" of the latter 19th century
- Berta von Suttner, Nobel Prize winner
- Friedrich Torberg, narrative writer, essayist, script author 1908-1979, born in Vienna
- Georg Trakl poet
- Georg Ritter von Trapp head of Sound of Music family
- Kurt Waldheim, diplomat and politician; former Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1982, former President of Austria from 1986 to 1992 born 1918
- Otto Weininger, philosopher
- Auer von Welsbach inventor of gaslight
- Oskar Werner, actor
- Simon Wiesenthal, b.1908, Nazi hunter
- Billy Wilder, film director, 1906-2002, born in Austria-Hungary
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, born 1889 in Vienna
- Fritz Wotruba, sculptor, 1907-1975, born in Vienna
- Joe Zawinul, jazz musician, composer, born in Vienna, 1932
- Fred Zinnemann film director
- Stefan Zweig, writer, 1881-1942, born in Vienna
See also: List of people by nationality
