Sophie Karmasin (born 5 January 1967) is an opinion researcher who was Minister for Families and Youth of Austria for four years.
Karmasin was born in Vienna. Her parents were Helene and Fritz Karmasin , the latter was a son of Franz Karmasin; Matthias Karmasin is her brother. [1] She studied business administration and later psychology at the University of Salzburg. [2] She led the family-owned Karasim Motivforschung, a market research company founded by her parents, until entering politics. [3] Karmasin is married with two children. [2]
She was appointed to the second Faymann government in December 2013. [4] She was nominated for the office by the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), but does not have a party membership. [2] She worked on increasing family benefits and improving day care capacity but was criticised for her lack of experience in politics. [3] [5]
Karmasin left politics after the 2017 Austrian legislative election. [6] In 2018 she founded a consulting firm. [5] Since 2019 she presents an opinion poll segment on television channel Puls 24 . [7]
In 2021, Karmasin was one of ten people accused of bribery and embezzlement in the Kurz corruption probe. [8] Investigators allege that she acted as an intermediary between the ÖVP and the founders of Österreich, a newspaper that published manipulated opinion polls. [9] Sabine Beinschab , a former assistant of Karmasin, was arrested on 12 October. [10] Karmasin herself was arrested on 3 March due to critical risk of committing a crime and collusion. [11]
Sophie Karmasin (born 5 January 1967) is an opinion researcher who was Minister for Families and Youth of Austria for four years.
Karmasin was born in Vienna. Her parents were Helene and Fritz Karmasin , the latter was a son of Franz Karmasin; Matthias Karmasin is her brother. [1] She studied business administration and later psychology at the University of Salzburg. [2] She led the family-owned Karasim Motivforschung, a market research company founded by her parents, until entering politics. [3] Karmasin is married with two children. [2]
She was appointed to the second Faymann government in December 2013. [4] She was nominated for the office by the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), but does not have a party membership. [2] She worked on increasing family benefits and improving day care capacity but was criticised for her lack of experience in politics. [3] [5]
Karmasin left politics after the 2017 Austrian legislative election. [6] In 2018 she founded a consulting firm. [5] Since 2019 she presents an opinion poll segment on television channel Puls 24 . [7]
In 2021, Karmasin was one of ten people accused of bribery and embezzlement in the Kurz corruption probe. [8] Investigators allege that she acted as an intermediary between the ÖVP and the founders of Österreich, a newspaper that published manipulated opinion polls. [9] Sabine Beinschab , a former assistant of Karmasin, was arrested on 12 October. [10] Karmasin herself was arrested on 3 March due to critical risk of committing a crime and collusion. [11]