Margit Fischer

Margit Fischer (née Binder; born 28 June 1943) is an Austrian former fabric designer and First Lady of Austria from 2006 until 2016 as the wife of former president Heinz Fischer.^[1]

Margit Fischer
Fischer in 2012
First Lady of Austria
In office 9 July 2004 – 8 July 2016
President	Heinz Fischer
Preceded by	Margot Klestil-Löffler
Succeeded by	Doris Schmidauer
Personal details
Born	Margit Binder (1943-06-28) 28 June 1943 (age 82) Stockholm, Sweden
Spouse	Heinz Fischer ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	2

Biography

Fischer was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her parents, Otto and Anna Binder, were social democrats and Jews who fled to Sweden during the Nazi regime. Mrs Fischer speaks Swedish fluently. In 1949, her family returned to Austria. She attended grammar school in Vienna and began studying arts at the University of Vienna. In 1968, she married Heinz Fischer, a social democratic politician. In 2004, her husband was elected Austrian president and she became the First Lady of Austria. The couple have two children: Philip (born 1972) and Lisa (born 1975).^[2]

Functions in Austria

• Former Vice-President of Rettet das Kind Österreich (Save the Children Austria) (1992-1998)
• Former President of Verein zur Gründung und zum Betrieb einer Erlebnisausstellung zu den Naturwissenschaften (Association for the creation and operation of an interactive exhibition about the natural sciences) (1993-2000)
• Chairperson of Österreichischer Frauenrat (Austrian Women's Council) (since 1995)
• Chairperson of Science Center Netzwerk (Science Center Network Society) (since 2005)

Awards

• 2006 - SMOM — Grand Cross of Merit Order pro merito Melitensi of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta^[3]
• 2007 - Italy - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic^[4]
• 2007 - Sweden — Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star^{[citation needed]}
• 2009 - Portugal — Grand Cross of the Order of Saint James of the Sword^[5]
• 2013 - Luxembourg — Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau^{[citation needed]}