Franz Jonas was born on October 4, 1899 in Floridsdorf, now a district of Vienna. After training as a typesetter, he fought on the Italian front in the First World War before continuing to work in his profession until 1932.

In the 1930s, he was involved as secretary of the Social Democratic Workers' Party in his home town before social democracy was banned by the authoritarian Federal Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß. He then became involved in various underground socialist movements until his arrest and 14-month imprisonment. Acquitted of treason, he worked as an accounting clerk at the Floridsdorf locomotive factory between 1936 and 1945.

After the end of the Second World War, he was appointed to the provisional municipal administration by the Soviet occupying forces. His commitment to the party and to the people helped him to become Mayor and Governor of Vienna in 1951. He held this position until his election as Austria's fourth Federal President in 1965.

On one of his trips abroad, he visited the Hessian capital on May 11, 1973. At a reception in the ballroom of the town hall, Lord Mayor Schmitt paid tribute to his party colleague's many years of commitment to social democracy in Austria and Europe. His guest thanked him for the friendly welcome and then signed the city's Golden Book.

Dr. h.c. Franz Jonas died of cancer in Vienna on April 24, 1974, during his second term of office.