Thomas Klestil, 71; Longtime Austrian Leader

Austrian President Thomas Klestil, who brought calm to an office frayed by a controversy surrounding his predecessor’s past in the Nazi army, died Tuesday. He was 71.

Klestil, whose second six-year term as Austria’s president was to end Thursday, died shortly before midnight from multiple organ failure, officials at Vienna’s General Hospital announced.

Heinz Fischer, who won elections earlier this year, takes over the presidency Thursday. Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel assumed presidential duties when Klestil fell ill.

Klestil was widely credited with restoring Austria’s credibility after revelations that predecessor Kurt Waldheim had served in Germany’s army in the Balkans during World War II.

Klestil distinguished himself by speaking out numerous times against Austria’s Nazi complicity during the war. He traveled to Israel during his first term and expressed sympathy for Holocaust victims.

Although Austria’s presidency is a largely ceremonial post, he strengthened the country’s ties with emerging democracies in Eastern Europe and in 1993 began convening a yearly meeting of the heads of state of Central European countries.

But he later found himself roiled in political turmoil as he feuded with the rightist Freedom Party, which gained popularity with its anti-immigrant, populist rhetoric. Critics occasionally accused Klestil of overstepping the ceremonial bounds of his office. But he proved an efficient president, and in 1995, Austria joined the European Union.

When the European Union punished Austria for allowing the Freedom Party to join the government, Klestil put his diplomatic skills to work and lobbied heads of states to lift sanctions seven months after they were imposed on the nation.

The Viennese-born Klestil studied economics and business before earning a doctorate at the University of Vienna in 1957. In 1969, he established the Austrian General Consulate in Los Angeles, where he befriended Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian bodybuilder who became a movie star and then governor of California.

In 1978, Klestil was appointed Austria’s ambassador to the United Nations. Four years later, he became Austria’s ambassador to the United States.

He was elected president in 1992, succeeding Waldheim, the former United Nations secretary-general who had concealed details about his service in the German army.

Klestil was reelected but was barred by the constitution from seeking a third term.

He is survived by his wife, Margot Loeffler, and a daughter and two sons from a previous marriage. Funeral services were pending.