Honner, Franz

Born Sept. 14, 1893, in Friedberg; died Feb. 10, 1964, in Vienna. Figure in the Austrian working-class movement.

From 1920 to 1925, Honner worked as a miner in Grünbach and was active in trade unions. In 1920 he joined the Communist Party of Austria (CPA) and became head of the local party organization; he was elected to the Central Committee of the CPA in 1927. He was subjected to persecution and arrest. Honner helped organize an Austrian unit, the February 12, 1934 Battalion, that fought in Spain with the International Brigades. He also helped organize the Austrian Freedom Battalion, which was part of the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia in late 1944 and early 1945. In 1945, Honner served as minister of the interior in the Provisional Government of Austria. From 1945 to 1951 he was deputy chairman of the CPA. Honner was many times elected a member of the Politburo and secretary of the Central Committee of the CPA.