In Memoriam Liese Prokop

Austria’s Minister of the Interior, Liese Prokop, (ÖVP) passed away on December 31, 2006 at the age of 65. Austria’s first female minister of the interior started her political career in 1969 as a member of the regional government of Lower Austria. From 1981 to 1992 she was active as a regional councillor and then became Deputy Governor of Lower Austria. In December 2004 she took over the Ministry of the Interior.Before going into politics, Prokop had crowned her sports career with a silver medal in the pentathlon at the Olympics in Mexico in 1968. In 1969 the European champion broke the world record in the pentathlon. Prokop’s sudden death shocked and deeply affected everyone across the political spectrum. She was paid tribute to as a sympathetic and sensitive person with a great heart.