Franz Karasek was an Austrian

Austrians

Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....

 politician. He studied international law in Paris and graduated as a Doctor of Law from 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...

. He became a diplomat and helped negotiate Austria's return to full sovereignty in 1955, the year when Austria joined the Council of Europe. He joined the Austrian People's Party

Austrian People's Party

The Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in terms of ideology...

 (ÖVP) in 1951. From 1950 to 1952, he was an official in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1952 to 1953 he was secretary to Chancellor Leopold Figl

Leopold Figl

Leopold Figl was an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party and the first Federal Chancellor after World War II...

. He entered the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...

 in 1970, four years after he was elected to the Nationalrat

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...

. He served as president of the Cultural Commission and General Rapporteur of the Political Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly. He was Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Secretary General of the Council of Europe

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe is appointed by the Parliamentary Assembly on the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers for a period of five years...

from 1 October 1979, to 1 October 1984. He was married and had two children.