Franz Josef Strauss

Franz Josef Strauss born on 6 September 1915 in Munich, Germany was a German politician, he held several ministerial positions (defence and finances) in the federal government and was minister-president of the state of Bavaria from 1978 until 1988. He is largely regarded as one of the co-founders of Airbus in the early 1970s. He was a committed pan-European and a fervent believer in European industrial cooperation.

He was also a keen aviator having obtained his pilot's licence in 1968 and energetically supported the Airbus project in the German parliament. As Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Airbus and later of the Airbus Industrie GIE, his dedication to developing the scientific, technical and manufacturing frameworks for both German and European aerospace was key to enabling the sector's success.

Franz Josef Strauss passed away in Regensburg, Germany on October 3, 1988.