Leopold Gratz

Burdening his authority as the second highest politician of the Republic of Austria, Gratz had tried to protect his close friend Udo Proksch, who later was convicted of the murder of six seamen and received a life sentence, from criminal prosecution.

After Gratz decided to abandon politics, he remained a member of the party executive committee of the SPÖ Vienna as well as president of the International Conference on Kampuchea (ICK) by request of the United Nations Organization (UNO).

In 1979, Leopold Gratz was named a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Silvester by Pope John Paul II.

In 1995, Leopold Gratz was officially made an Honorary Citizen of Vienna, the capital of the Republic of Austria.

In 2010, a square behind the Austrian parliament in downtown Vienna was named after Leopold Gratz (Leopold-Gratz-Square).