A lawyer and formerly a prominent member of Jörg Haider's Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), in 1993 Schmidt was one of a group of politicians who, because of Haider's increasingly right-wing verbal politics, seceded from the FPÖ and founded the Liberal Forum.

From 1990 until 1994 Schmidt was Third President of the National Council of Austria. Also, she twice ran for Austrian Presidency both in 1992 when she was nominated by the FPÖ and in 1998 by the Liberal Forum.

As of 2005, Schmidt heads a non-profit organization, Institut für eine offene Gesellschaft (Institute for an Open Society).

External links

• http://www.ioge.at/ (Institut für eine offene Gesellschaft)