Walter Schiff

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Walter Schiff (born June 2, 1866 in Vienna , Austrian Empire ; died June 1, 1950 in Vienna) was an Austrian statistician, sociologist and political economist.

education and profession

Walter Schiff attended elementary school and grammar school (Staatsgymnasium IX.) In Vienna and passed his Matura with distinction in 1884. He then studied law at the University of Vienna and received his doctorate in 1889 sub auspiciis Imperatoris Dr. jur. Between 1891 and 1892 he trained at the Political Science Department of the University of Strasbourg. In 1899 Schiff completed his habilitation in political economy and statistics at the University of Vienna, followed in 1900 by the rehabilitation in administration and law at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna . At this university he qualified as a professor in 1901 for economics and statistics. In 1910 Schiff became an associate professor and in 1914 a full professor of political economy at the University of Vienna.

Schiff completed his court year in Vienna between 1892 and 1892. In the years 1894 to 1897, Schiff was an assistant to the kk Central Statistical Commission under Karl Theodor von Inama-Sternegg and was also active in the statistical department of the University of Vienna in this function. Between 1908 and 1919 Schiff worked as an official of the Labor Statistics Office in the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Commerce in Vienna under Viktor Mataja and from 1919 to 1922 he was Vice-President of the Federal Statistical Office. In 1922 he retired after thirty years of civil service. Nevertheless, from 1923 to 1934 he was the chief official of the Statistical Office of the City of Vienna as statistical consultant.

Schiff was also active in popular education and was co-founder and senior vice-president of the "Volksheim Ottakring" founded in 1901. At the adult education center established there, Schiff taught from 1909 as a specialist in political science and law, and from 1931 to 1934 he was also the managing director of the Ottakring Volksheim. In addition, in 1912 he and Anna Postelberg founded the private “girls' high school for advanced women's education” in Albertgasse, Vienna-Josefstadt. He also initiated public meals for poor people in 1914, which were continued as Viennese public kitchens in 1918. In 1928 he joined the Social Democratic Labor Party of Austria and from 1934 was a member of the then illegal Communist Party of Austria . In addition, Schiff worked from 1930 to 1934 as chairman of the "anti-war committee" and was second president of the " League of Friends of the Soviet Union ". Furthermore, in 1933 Schiff was a leader in the "Dimitrov Committee" and active for the " Red Aid " of the Communist Party. After the suppression of the February uprising, Schiff was dismissed from all professional positions in 1934. However, Schiff subsequently made his apartment available as a meeting place for the illegal communists and revolutionary socialists.

Private and exile

Tomb in the Heiligenstadt cemetery

Walter Schiff grew up as the fourth of six children of the businessman and owner of a linen company Max Schiff and his wife Caroline, née Schlesinger. Schiff converted to Roman Catholicism in 1893 and subsequently took the name Walter Karl Schiff. In 1897 he married his cousin, the merchant's daughter Alice Friederike, and had four children. Schiff fled to his daughter Käthe in Great Britain in March 1938 and subsequently lived in London and from 1939 in Birmingham . He lived there with his childhood friend Anna Postelberg until his death. In exile, Schiff was active in numerous exile organizations. He worked in the Austrian refugee organizations, was a member and later chairman of the "Council of Austrians in Great Britain" and from May 1940 honorary president of the "Austrian Center". In addition, Schiff was a founding member of the “ Free Austrian Movement ”, a member of the Austrian “PEN” and in December 1941 was a co-signatory of the “Declaration of Austrian Associations in Great Britain”. Schiff returned to Vienna at the beginning of March 1950, seriously ill with cancer, where he died. After his death, Schiff was buried in the Heiligenstadt cemetery .

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Ship, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian statistician, sociologist and political economist
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH June 1, 1950
Place of death Vienna