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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:
Actors/Actresses
- Leon Askin, actor
- Klaus Maria Brandauer, actor
- Liane Haid, first Austrian movie star
- Hedy Lamarr, (1913-2000), actress; also co-inventor of spread
spectrum radio technology; became U.S. citizen
- Romy Schneider, actress (Sissi)
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, (born 1947), bodybuilder, actor, Governor of California; became U.S. citizen
- Oskar Werner, actor
Artists
- Herbert Bayer, artist, typographer, art director, graphic
designer
- Ernst Fuchs, painter and sculptor, born in Vienna, 1930
- Rudolf Hausner, painter
and graphic artist, 1914-1995
- Gottfried Helnwein, artist, born in Vienna, 1948
- Alfred Hrdlicka,
sculptor and graphic artist, born in Vienna, 1928
- Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist,
1928-2000, born in Vienna
- Gustav Klimt, artist, helped found Vienna Secession
- Oskar Kokoschka, painter, 1886-1980, born in Pöchlarn (Lower Austria)
- Inge Morath, photographer
- Hermann Nitsch, artist, painter, born in Vienna, 1938
- Alf Poier, artist and stand-up comedian
- Arnulf Rainer, painter, born 1929
- Egon Schiele, painter, 1890-1918
- Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, architect and
political activist
Filmmakers
- Fritz Lang, film director, December 05, 1890 - August 02, 1976
- Josef von Sternberg, film director, 1894-1969
- Billy Wilder, film director, 1906-2002, born in Austria-Hungary
- Otto Preminger, film director
- Fred Zinnemann, film director
- Franz Antel, filmmaker
Inventors
- Gaston Glock, inventor,
founder of Glock
- Eduard Haas, inventor of PEZ
- Viktor Kaplan, inventor of
turbines for river power plants
- Johann Korbuly, inventor
of matador (special wooden toy)
- Josef
Madersberger, invented the sewing-machine in 1818
- Sigfried Marcus,
inventor of automobile in 1864 in Vienna, lived most of his life in Austria
- Paul Schwarzkopf,
inventor of powder metallurgy
- Auer von Welsbach, inventor of gaslight
Musicians
- Ludwig van Beethoven composer, born in Bonn but spent most of his life in Vienna
- Alban Berg, composer, 1885-1935, born in Vienna
- Anton Bruckner, composer, 1824-1896
- Falco, (1957-1998), pop musician
- Friedrich Gulda, pianist and composer, born in 1930 in Vienna
- Joseph Haydn, composer with Croatian connections. Author of "Imperial Hymn" now German Hymn
- Udo Jürgens, singer-songwriter
- Walter Jurmann, composer
- Gustav Mahler, composer
- Leopold Mozart, composer & musician
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer &
musician
- Franz Schubert, composer & musician
- Johann Strauss, Sr., 1809-1849, Johann Strauss, Jr., 1825-1899, and Josef Strauss, 1827-1870, the "Waltz Kings" of the latter 19th century
- Fritz Wotruba, sculptor,
1907-1975, born in Vienna
- Joe Zawinul, jazz musician, composer, born in Vienna, 1932
Philosophers
- Martin Buber, philosopher, 1878-1965, born in Vienna
- Heinrich Gomperz,
philosopher, 1873-1942, born in Vienna
- Karl Popper, philosopher (born in Austria, became British)
- Othmar Spann, philosopher and economist
- Rudolf Steiner, mystic & philosopher
- Otto Weininger, philosopher
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, born 1889 in Vienna
Politicians
- Engelbert Dolfuss, politician, 1892-1934, born in Texing
- Adolf Hitler, unsuccessful artist; dictator of Germany from 1933-1945; born on April 20, 1889 in
Braunau am Inn
- Bruno Kreisky, Chancellor of Austria (1970-1983)
- Karl Renner, (1870-1950), Chancellor and President of Austria
- Klemens Wenzel von Metternich,
diplomat
- 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
Psychologists
Scientists
- Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist, 1844-1906, born in Vienna
- Fritjof Capra, physicist
- Christian Andreas Doppler, physicist, 1803-1853, born in Salzburg
- Paul Ehrenfest, physicist & mathematician
- Viktor Frankl, father of logotherapy
- Kurt Gödel, mathematician (born in Austria-Hungary, became naturalized U.S. citizen)
- Hans Hass, biologist
- Friedrich Hayek, Nobel Prize winner (economics)
- Karl Landsteiner, physician, serologist, Nobel Prize winner,
1886-1943
- Konrad Lorenz zoologist, Nobel prize 1973 (physiology/medicine)
- Lise Meitner, physicist
- Gregor Mendel, pioneer of genetics
- Ludwig von Mises, free-market economist
- Wolfgang Pauli, Nobel prize winner (Physics, 1945)
- Ferdinand Porsche, automotive engineer, designed the
Volkswagen (the "people's car"), born in Austria-Hungary
- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist and Nobel Prize winner
- Berta von Suttner, Nobel Prize winner
Sportsmen/Sportswomen
- Franz Klammer, downhill skier, born in Mooswald (Carinthia), 1953
- Niki Lauda, (born 1949), race car
driver and aviation entrepreneur
- Hermann Maier, skier, born 1972
- Thomas Muster, tennis champion, born 1967
- Gernot
Reinstadler, skier (1970-1991)
- 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
Writers
- Ingeborg Bachmann, poet, 1926-1973
- Otto Maria Carpeaux, literary critic and foremost
historian of Literature, 1900-1978
- Thomas Bernhard,
dramatist, novelist, poet, 1931-1989, born in
Cloister Heerlen, Netherlands
- Heimito von
Doderer, writer, 1896-1966, born in
Hadersdorf-Weidlingau near Vienna
- Peter Handke, author, born in 1942 in Griffen (Carinthia)
- Franz Kafka, writer, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (wrote in German)
- Ludwig von Köchel, writer, composer, botanist, music
historian
- Karl Kraus, essayist, poet, dramatist, 1874-1936
- Frederic Morton, journalist and novelist, born 1924
- Robert Musil, writer
- Günther Nenning, journalist, born 1921
- Arthur Schnitzler, writer
- Fritz Spiegl, journalist
- Friedrich Torberg, narrative writer, essayist, script author
1908-1979, born in Vienna
- Georg Trakl, poet
- Stefan Zweig, writer, 1881-1942, born in Vienna
Other Notables
- Marie Antoinette, born in Vienna, became Queen of France
- Elisabeth of Austria ("Sissi"), born in Munich
(Bavaria)
- Otto Habsburg-Lothringen
- Theodor Herzl, "founder" of Israel, lived most of his life in
Austria
- Franz Cardinal König, 1905-2004, Archbishop of Vienna (1956-1985)
- Alma Mahler, wife and muse to Mahler, Gropius, Werfel
- Max Reinhardt, renowned theatre director
- Günther Schifter, radio personality
- Georg Ritter von Trapp, head of The Sound of Music family
- Simon Wiesenthal, b.1908,
Nazi hunter
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