Boris Marte, banker and cultural manager, dies

Boris Marte, a Vienna-born banker and cultural manager, has died, ORF reported, citing an announcement by the Erste Foundation on Monday.

Born in 1964, Marte was known for supporting artists and cultural initiatives and for helping develop funding projects at Erste Group. Within Vienna’s ÖVP, he was one of the driving forces behind a more open cultural policy, alongside politicians including Erhard Busek and Peter Marboe.

Marte headed Erste HUB, Erste Group’s innovation centre, from 2012 to 2021. He then served as managing director of the Erste Foundation until 2025, stepping down last year for private reasons. In March, Vienna University of Economics and Business named him an honorary senator, recognising his work on projects with the foundation to strengthen civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.

Andreas Treichl, Erste Group’s longtime chief executive and Marte’s successor as chairman of the foundation, recalled Marte’s brief appearance at the final “Speech to Europe” lecture on May 13. The public lecture series at Judenplatz was created by Marte, and its final speaker was Anne Applebaum.

Treichl wrote that Marte knew he could fight his tumour but would not defeat it. He said Marte had always focused on society, education and inclusion, and on building a free, democratic and resilient civil society.