Robert Franz Uhlir

Robert Uhlir was born in Vienna as the legitimate son of the typesetter Julius Uhlir and his wife Ida, née Mayr. His parents had married in 1897, which is why his older brother Julius Uhlirs, born in 1994, only took the surname 'Uhirs' when his parents married. After primary and secondary school, Robert Uhlir attended commercial school and learned the trade of a commercial clerk. In 1926, Robert Uhlir left the Catholic Church.

Like his brother Julius Uhlir, Robert Uhlir became involved in the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) [today: SPÖ] from the 1920s. In 1933, he joined the Socrates lodge of the Grand Lodge of Vienna [today: Grand Lodge of Austria of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons]. After the socialist uprisings in February 1934, he became involved with the Revolutionary Socialists and the Socialist Workers' Aid like his brother Julius Uhlirs. He went on to become one of the leading functionaries of the Revolutionary Socialists.

On March 12, 1938, he witnessed the demise of free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. His brother Julius Uhlirs was arrested by the Gestapo on March 17, 1938 due to his activities for the Revolutionary Socialists and deported to the Dachau concentration camp on April 2, 1938 on the so-called 'Prominent Transport'.

After the liberation of Austria and the re-establishment of the Republic in April and May 1945, Robert Uhlir immediately became involved with the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ). On December 19, 1945, he was elected to the National Council for the SPÖ and subsequently&nbspManaging Chairman of the Club of Socialist Deputies and Federal Councillors. He became a member of the Humanitas collective lodge of the Grand Lodge of Austria of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons and a founding member of the Lessing - Zu den 3 Ringen lodge in 1947. He remained a member of the National Council until 1966.

In addition, he was district chairman of the SPÖ Leopoldstadt from 1948 to 1970; from 1956 to 1970, as chairman of an important district organization of the party, he also served as a member of the Vienna SPÖ Executive Committee.

From 1949 to 1964, Robert Uhlir, proposed by his party, served as director of the Pension Insurance Institution for Workers.

After retiring from the National Council, he was chairman of the Pensioners' Association of Austria from 1966 to 1980. Robert Uhlir dies at the age of 82 in Santa Eulalia in Spain and is laid to rest in Vienna's Central Cemetery.

[Note: Unlike his older brother Julius Uhlir, Robert Uhlir is spelled without an 's'.]