Heinz Fischer is an Austrian politician who served as the eighth President of Austria from 2004 to 2016. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), he previously held the position of President of the National Council from 1990 to 2002. His long and distinguished political career began in the Austrian Parliament in 1971. Throughout his presidency, Fischer was widely regarded as a moral authority and a stabilizing force in Austrian politics.