Elisabeth Lichtenberger (1925–2017)

Elisabeth Lichtenberger was born in Vienna and studied geography, geology, and history at the University of Vienna. She passed the teaching examination for secondary schools in 1948. A year later, she received her doctoral degree with a thesis on the morphology of the eastern Gailtal Alps mountain range. She began her university career as a teaching assistant at the Geographical Institute of the University of Vienna, and eventually became a professor of cultural geography.

Her research focus was on urban geography and mountain research, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe and North America. Between 1968 and 1972, she was a guest professor in Canada, the USA, and Germany.

Prof. Lichtenberger founded
the Institute for Urban and Regional Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

She was awarded the Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst (Austrian Decoration for Science and Art) in 1999 and was made a fellow of the British Academy and a member of Academia Europaea.