Bruno Kreisky Foundation

for Human Rights

Otto Tausig (Austria)

Note: The following article was written during the lifetime of the prize winner. Otto Tausig died on October 10, 2011 in Vienna.

Otto Tausig was born in 1922 in Vienna, and at 16 immigrated to England during the Second World War. When he returned he studied drama, and premiered in the Scala Theater in Vienna. His career took him to the most famous stages throughout the German-speaking world. Once he was already famous he gave all of his earnings to charity.

He primarily advocated the organization “Entwicklungshilfeklub” because they do not retain any of the profits, all of the donations are given directly to the people in need. On more than one occasion Tausig gave short speeches while on stage, advocating donating money to the third world. He also held events to raise money for impoverished Indian children, including orphans who live on the streets of large Indian cities. At the time of the Bruno Kreisky Prize Award, he financed the building of a center for children in Andhra Pradesh, India. Children in India are often used as a cheap work force for manual labor.

The Entwicklungshilfeklub has many projects underway to help care for and educate these children. Unfortunately, several of these projects have been recently terminated due to lack of funding. Otto Tausig ended his stage career in 1999 and retired, though he is currently still living in Vienna. In 2007, he received The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art and more recently in 2009 he received the Nestoy Theater Prize for his life’s work. He died on October 10th 2011 in Vienna.

http://www.oesterreich.gv.at/site/cob__25863/5369/default.aspx

http://www.eh-klub.at