Madeleine Petrovic is an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. From 1994 to 1996 she was federal spokesperson of the Austrian Green Party

Austrian Green Party

The Greens – The Green Alternative is a political party in the Austrian parliament.The party was formed in 1986 with the name Grüne Alternative, following the merger of the more conservative Green party Vereinte Grüne Österreichs and the more progressive party Alternative Liste Österreichs The...

.

Her maiden name is Demand. She attended Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

 which she finished 1974, and studied law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 at the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

, finishing in 1978. She then studied management science at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, finishing in 1982. She received an additional diploma as certified interpreter for English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

.

After working as assistant and lector

Lector

Lector is a Latin term for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages the word has come to take various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as , , and . It has various specialized uses:...

 at the university, she was employed by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

During the first mailbomb

Mailbomb

A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in terrorist attacks such as those of the Unabomber...

 series of Austrian terrorist Franz Fuchs

Franz Fuchs

Franz Fuchs was a xenophobic Austrian terrorist. Between 1993 and 1997 he killed four people and injured 15, some of them seriously, using three improvised explosive devices and five waves of 25 mailbombs in total.Fuchs' mailbomb campaigns and his personality features are according to criminal...

, on December 5, 1993 a mailbomb targeted at her was discovered and neutralized. The same day Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

's mayor Helmut Zilk

Helmut Zilk

Helmut Zilk was an Austrian journalist and politician in the Austrian Social Democratic Party.- Biography :...

 was seriously injured by another mailbomb.

Political career

From 1986 to 1987 Petrovic was politically engaged in the Döbling

Döbling

Döbling is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria . It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing...

 Greens. 1987 she became federal state chairwoman of the Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 Greens. In 1990 she became Member of the National Council of Austria

National Council of Austria

The National Council is one of the two houses of the Austrian parliament. According to the constitution, the National Council and the complementary Federal Council are peers...

(Nationalrat). In 1994 and 1995 she was leading candidate during the campaign to the National Council elections. From 1994 to 1996 she was federal spokesperson of the Austrian Greens. Until 1999 she was chairwoman of the parliamentary club of the Greens in the national council. Since 2001 she has been vice-spokesperson for the Austrian Greens.