Hilde Hawlicek

Austrian politician (born 1942)

Hilde Hawlicek (born 14 April 1942) is an Austrian retired politician and former Minister for Education, Arts and Sport.

Early life

Hawlicek was born and grew up in Vienna. She was a member of the Socialist Youth Austria and Socialist Students of Austria. She studied German and history at the University of Vienna for a teaching degree, which she completed in 1965, followed by political science studies at Vienna's Ford-Institut.^[1]

Career

Hawlicek later worked as a schoolteacher until she was appointed to the Federal Council for the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) in 1971. In 1976 she left the Federal Council to become a member of the National Council,^[2] and in 1979 became part of the Austrian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In 1987 she became Minister for Education, Arts and Sport in the second cabinet of Franz Vranitzky.^[1]

During her time in office, Hawlicek worked on reducing gender inequality in the education system by opening up all types of schools for girls. She introduced better sex education and other reforms to the curriculum.^[2] She enabled the creation of bilingual schools for Carinthian Slovenes.^[3] Hawlicek also defended the play Heldenplatz, which was controversial for its portrayal of nationalism and antisemitism in Austria, against censorship.^[4] She left the ministry after the 1990 election and resumed her parliamentary activities.^[1]

When Austria joined the European Union in 1995, Hawlicek was one of the 21 appointed Austrian delegates in the European Parliament. In the following 1996 election, she became an elected member of the European Parliament until 1999.^[5]

Awards and honours

Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria (1980)^[6]
Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria (1990)^[6]
Einspieler Prize (2007)^[3]
Grand Order of Merit of South Tyrol (2010)^[7]
Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class (2012)^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Hawlicek, Hilde". austria-forum.at (in German). 9 March 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Sexkoffer rein, Geschlechterrollen raus". Der Standard (in German). 13 April 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Einspielerpreis für Hilde Hawlicek". ktnv1.orf.at (in German). ORF. 23 November 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
^ Trenkler, Thomas (13 April 2012). "Als Peymann und Mortier für Revolution sorgten". Der Standard (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2019.
^ "Hilde HAWLICEK". europarl.europa.eu. European Parliament. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Anfragebeantwortung" [List of recipients of Austrian medals and decorations (1952–2012)] (PDF) (in German). pp. 581, 683, 2031. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
^ "Land vergibt "Großen Verdienstorden" an zehn Freunde Südtirols". stol.it (in German). 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2019.