Brigitte Bierlein

Brigitte Bierlein (Austrian German: [briˈɡɪtɛ ˈbiːɐ̯laɪn]; 25 June 1949 – 3 June 2024) was an Austrian jurist who served as President of the Constitutional Court from 2018 to 2019 and as Chancellor of Austria from 2019 to 2020. An independent, she was the first woman to hold either office. Bierlein served as the advocate general of the Procurator's Office – essentially the country's chief public prosecutor – from 1990 to 2002, as well as a member of the executive board of the International Association of Prosecutors from 2001 to 2003. In 2003, Bierlein was made a member and the vice president of the Constitutional Court. Following the Ibiza affair, President Alexander Van der Bellen named Bierlein Chancellor of Austria, after a parliamentary motion of no confidence dismissed the first government of Sebastian Kurz, the first successful motion of no confidence in Austrian modern history. She was the first woman to assume the role, and served until the next government led by Kurz was sworn in, following the legislative election which took place on 29 September 2019.