Richarda Kotal-Mandl

First Graz City Councillor Youth ans Familiy Affairs

„I have always enjoyed helping others, trying to contribute to the community, helping to shape it and serving a worthy cause.“

Women in Austria have had the right to participate equally in political life since 1919. Since then, women have been regularly represented in governments, but to this day they remain significantly underrepresented and do not reflect their share of the population and electorate.

Graz-born Richarda Kotal-Mandl was one of the first female city councillors in Graz (1982–1993). Prior to that, the Social Democrat worked at the Gebietskrankenkasse (GKK), the predecessor of the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK), for almost four decades, where she was active as an employee representative and in the trade union. She has been active in grassroots politics since 1970, starting as an official of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) in Graz. Her great role models were the pioneers of social democracy, such as Rosa Jochmann, Paula Wallisch, Stella Klein-Löw and Herta Firnberg, all of whom she had the privilege of meeting in person. She was particularly impressed, motivated and influenced by Bruno Kreisky. From 1978, Kotal-Mandl was a member of the Graz Municipal Council until she became a member of the City Senate in 1982 and was responsible for the youth and family departments until 1993.

Her local political work as a city councillor was characterised above all by innovation and lively construction and renovation activity for youth and family facilities. She emphasises: “The contacts I made with the facilities for persons with disabilities in the city, the federal government and private providers were a very special gift for me. The warm affection shown by these children and young people and their carers is unforgettable for me and has enriched my entire life ever since.”

In 2004, Kotal-Mandl moved to Gratwein near Graz, where she served as a local councillor from 2009 to 2014. Her special commitment to children and young people remains unbroken to this day. She is an honorary board member of the independent charity “Rettet das Kind (Save the Child) Styria” and is particularly involved in social work for young people and families in another one, Volkshilfe. In 1993, she was awarded the Grand Decoration of Honour of the State of Styria, and in 2014 she received the Viktor Adler Plaque.