Together with his Social Democratic deputy, Otto Glöckel, Breisky initiated sweeping reforms of Austria's education system.

The family was living in Switzerland at the time of Breisky's birth because his father, a noted physician, had accepted a professorship of gynecology at the University of Bern in 1867.

[2] Within ten days of graduating from university, Breisky secured employment as an apprentice clerk (Amtspraktikant) in the governor's office (Statthalterei) of the Archduchy of Lower Austria.

In February 1908, he was promoted to ministerial secretary (Ministerialsekretär); he subsequently became a noted collaborator of Minister-President Baron Max Wladimir von Beck.

[5][6] The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I was a serious personal blow to Breisky, who was 47 years old now and had spent his entire working life as a loyal servant of the Habsburg Monarchy.

In May 1919, Breisky was made a department director (Sektionschef) in the Chancellery (Staatskanzlei), personal bureau of Chancellor Karl Renner and heart of the rump state's executive apparatus.

[10] On 7 July Breisky was sworn in as a state secretary – the term for "minister" in the provisional constitution – of education in the first Mayr government.

[11] The deputy state secretary of education under both Renner and Mayr was Otto Glöckel, a Social Democrat and committed progressive.

[12] Glöckel was driving an ambitious program of education reform that included both structural reorganization and a drastic changes to the system's pedagogical approach.

Glöckel meant to help break down class barriers through merging the different types of middle schools, thus delaying the sorting for another four years.

He promoted access to education for girls, worked to improve teacher training, professionalized the textbook approbation process, overhauled the school physicians' service, and modernized curricula.

While Vienna was a vibrant metropolis and a global cultural center for music and theater, large parts of the rest of Austria were a backwater.

Breisky, however, was made the state secretary – the term now meant "deputy minister" – in charge of education affairs, retaining his previous portfolio and continuing his reform work.

[15] On 21 June the first Schober government was inaugurated; this cabinet too included Breisky as both vice chancellor and state secretary of education.

[16] On 16 December 1921 Chancellor Schober and President Hainisch signed the Treaty of Lana, an agreement of mutual understanding and friendship between Austria and Czechoslovakia.

In particular, Austria reconfirmed to its neighbor to the north that it would faithfully abide by the Treaty of Saint-Germain and would neither seek unification with Germany nor attempt to restore the Habsburg dynasty to power.

[17][18] The Christian Socials were in favor of the treaty, but their remaining coalition partner, the Greater German People's Party, was vehemently opposed.

Ardently pan-German, the People's Party had been hoping that Austria would, sooner or later, defy the Treaty of Saint-Germain and would seek accession to the German Reich.

Schober's resignation did not elevate Breisky to the chancellorship automatically, but Hainisch instantaneously appointed him caretaker head of government.

[23][24] Behind the scenes, Christian Social representatives, and possibly politicians of other parties as well, were lobbying Schober to return; it was widely felt that there simply was no alternative.

Breisky, whose appointment was originally ridiculed for his complete lack of any relevant training or experience, proved himself capable and energetic.

[30] Breisky spent his final years in Klosterneuburg, where he lived with his wife; he had married Rosa Kowarik, his long-time housekeeper, in 1927.

Breisky does not appear to have kept in touch with former colleagues or political collaborators, but he was active in the Pan-Europe Movement and held honorary positions in a number of charities and hobbyists' clubs.

He withdrew further from public life after the Nazi Party came to power in Austria, resigning even his nominal membership in the International Statistical Institute.