List of the first female holders of political offices
Encyclopedia
This is a list of political offices which have been held by a female, with details of the first female holder of each office. It is ordered by country, by dates of appointment. Former countries, such as Yugoslavia
, are also listed.
League of Nations
United Nations
European Union
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, are also listed.
League of NationsLeague of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
- Substitute Delegate and Ambassador to the League of Nations – Elena VăcărescuElena VacarescuElena Văcărescu or Hélène Vacaresco was a Romanian-French aristocrat writer, twice a laureate of the Académie française.-Life:...
– 1922 - Permanent Delegate and Ambassador to the League of Nations – Elena VăcărescuElena VacarescuElena Văcărescu or Hélène Vacaresco was a Romanian-French aristocrat writer, twice a laureate of the Académie française.-Life:...
– 1924
United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
- Head of the section of Welfare Policy - Alva MyrdalAlva MyrdalAlva Myrdal was a Swedish sociologist and politician. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982. She married Gunnar Myrdal in 1924....
- 1949 - Chairman of UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
's social science section - Alva MyrdalAlva MyrdalAlva Myrdal was a Swedish sociologist and politician. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982. She married Gunnar Myrdal in 1924....
- 1950 - President of the United Nations General AssemblyPresident of the United Nations General AssemblyThe President of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted for by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly on a yearly basis.- Election :...
– Vijaya Lakshmi PanditVijaya Lakshmi PanditVijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit was an Indian diplomat and politician, the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, the aunt of Indira Gandhi and the great-aunt of Rajiv Gandhi, all of whom served as Prime Minister of India.In 1921 she married Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, who died on 14 January 1944...
– 1953 - Permanent RepresentativePermanent RepresentativeA Permanent Representative is the head of a diplomatic mission to one of various international organisations. The best known of the organisations to which states send Permanent Representatives is the United Nations; of these, the most high-profile ones are those assigned to headquarters in New...
- Agda RösselAgda RösselAgda Viola Rössel, née Jäderström was a Swedish politician . She was Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations in 1958-1964 and was as such the first of her gender to have been permanently placed in a superior position within the United nations organisation.-Sources:...
(Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations) - 1958 - Head of the United Nations Children's FundUnited Nations Children's FundUnited Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...
– Carol BellamyCarol BellamyCarol Bellamy has been Director of the Peace Corps, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund , and President and CEO of World Learning. In April, 2009, Bellamy was appointed as Chair of the International Baccalaureate Board of Governors...
– 1995 - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – Mary RobinsonMary RobinsonMary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
– 1997 - Deputy Secretary-GeneralUnited Nations Deputy Secretary-GeneralThe Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations is an office created to handle many of the administrative responsibilities, help manage Secretariat operations, and ensure coherence of activities and programmes. The post was formally established by the General Assembly at the end of 1997...
– Louise FréchetteLouise FréchetteLouise Fréchette, OC was United Nations Deputy Secretary-General for eight years, and a long-time Canadian diplomat and public servant...
– 1998 - Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements ProgrammeUnited Nations Human Settlements ProgrammeThe United Nations Human Settlements Programme is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It was established in 1978 and has its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya...
– Anna TibaijukaAnna TibaijukaDr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka is a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme...
– 2000 - Under-Secretary-GeneralUnder-Secretary-General of the United NationsAn Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Secretary-General for a renewable term of four years....
– Inga-Britt AhleniusInga-Britt AhleniusInga-Britt Monica Stigsdotter Ahlenius is a Swedish auditor, public servant and former Under-Secretary-General for United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services .Ahlenius was born in Karlstad, Sweden...
– 2005 - President of the International Court of JusticeJudges of the International Court of JusticeThis is a list of all the permanent judges of the International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations. It does not include judges who have been appointed as judge ad hoc by a party to a proceeding before the Court pursuant to Article 31 of the Statute of the International...
– Rosalyn HigginsRosalyn HigginsDame Rosalyn Higgins, DBE, QC is the former President of the International Court of Justice. Higgins was the first female judge to be appointed to the ICJ, and was elected President in 2006. Her term of office expired on 6 February 2009...
– 2006 - Managing director of the International Monetary FundInternational Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
- Christine LagardeChristine LagardeChristine Madeleine Odette Lagarde is a French lawyer and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund since July 5, 2011...
- 2011
European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
- President of the European ParliamentPresident of the European ParliamentThe President of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President's signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget.Presidents serve...
– Simone VeilSimone VeilSimone Veil, DBE is a French lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Health under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the European Parliament and member of the Constitutional Council of France....
– 1979 - President-in-Office of the European Council – Margaret ThatcherMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
– 1981 - European CommissionerEuropean CommissionerA European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Member within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission...
– Christiane ScrivenerChristiane ScrivenerChristiane Scrivener is a French politician, a member of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's Parti républicain ....
/ Vasso Papandreou – 1989 - Leader of the Socialist GroupParty of European SocialistsThe Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
and of any major party – Pauline GreenPauline GreenDame Pauline Green DBE is a former Labour and Co-operative Member of the European Parliament and former Leader of the Parliamentary Group of the Party of European Socialists...
– 1994 - Co Vice-President of the European CommissionVice-President of the European CommissionA Vice President of the European Commission is a post in the European Commission usually occupied by more than one member of the Commission. Since the 2009 Lisbon Treaty entered into force, one of these is ex-officio the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,...
– Loyola de PalacioLoyola de PalacioLoyola de Palacio y del Valle-Lersundi was a Spanish politician. She was one of the first women to rise to political prominence in Spain during the early years of democracy. She was a minister in the Spanish government from 1996 to 1998, and a member of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004...
– 1999 - First Vice-President of the European CommissionVice-President of the European CommissionA Vice President of the European Commission is a post in the European Commission usually occupied by more than one member of the Commission. Since the 2009 Lisbon Treaty entered into force, one of these is ex-officio the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,...
– Margot WallströmMargot WallströmMargot Elisabeth Wallström is a Swedish social democratic, currently holding the job as . Prior to this post, she served as European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy...
– 2004 - High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security PolicyHigh Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security PolicyThe High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is the main co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy within the European Union...
- Catherine Ashton - 2009
See also
- List of women heads of state
- List of the first LGBT holders of political offices
- Female political leaders in Islam and in Muslim-majority countriesFemale political leaders in Islam and in Muslim-majority countriesWomen in Islamic societies have held many positions of political significance. The legitimacy of these positions, from a religious and cultural perspective, is debated.-Islamic texts:...