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Women's Suffrage In Switzerland
Women in Switzerland gained the right to vote in federal elections after 1971 Swiss women's suffrage referendum, a referendum in February 1971. The first federal vote in which women were able to participate was the 1971 Swiss federal election, 31 October 1971 election of the Federal Assembly. However it was not until a 1990 decision by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland that women gained full voting rights in the final Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden. An earlier 1959 Swiss referendums, referendum on women's suffrage was held on 1 February 1959 and was rejected by the majority (67%) of Switzerland's men. Despite this, in some French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, cantons women obtained the right to vote in cantonal referendums. The first Swiss woman to hold political office, Trudy Späth-Schweizer, was elected to the municipal government of Riehen in 1958. Swiss political system and universal suffrage The principal reason for the delay of the Swiss relative to the ...
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Swiss Council Of States
The Council of States is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the other house being the National Council. As the powers of the houses are the same, it is sometimes called perfect bicameralism. It comprises 46 members. Twenty of the country's cantons are represented by two Councillors each. Six cantons, traditionally called " half cantons", are represented by one Councillor each for historical reasons. These are Obwalden, Nidwalden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden. The Councillors serve for four years, and are not bound in their vote to instructions from the cantonal authorities. Electoral system Under the Swiss Federal Constitution, the mode of election to the Council of States is left to the cantons, the provision being that it must be a democratic method. All cantons now provide for the councilors to be chosen by popular election, although historically it was typically the cantons' legislatures that electe ...
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Lilian Uchtenhagen
Lilian Uchtenhagen (7 September 1928 – 6 September 2016) was a Swiss politician and economist. She was one of the ten first women elected to the National Council (Switzerland), National Council, the Swiss Parliament's house and first women to be a candidate to the Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland. Early life and education Uchtenhagen was born in 1928 at Olten in the Canton of Solothurn, the daughter of a businessman. She studied political science at the University of Basel and at the London School of Economics (LSE) and graduated in 1954 from the University of Basel. Political career She was elected in to the Municipal Council of Zurich in 1970, from which she resigned in 1974. After women Women's suffrage in Switzerland, gained the right to vote in national elections in 1971, Uchtenhagen joined the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, Social Democratic Party (SP), and was one of the first ten women to be elected to the Natio ...
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Hanny Thalmann
Hanny Johanna Hermina Thalmann (26 July 1916 in Gossau, canton of St. Gallen – 11 May 2000 in St. Gallen) was a Swiss women's rights activist and politician of the Christian Democratic People's Party. She was among the first ten women to seat in the National Council after women's suffrage was introduced in 1971. Life and career Thalmann's father, a ''Realschule'' teacher, died at an early age in 1920. After attending her local primary school, Hanny Thalmann moved to Flums, St. Gallen with her mother. She had a vocational business training in Walenstadt, canton of St. Gallen, and later graduated from the business school of the Institute of Menzingen, canton of Zurich. In 1933, she joined the Business Academy of St. Gallen, but she had to pause her studies due to a lung disease in 1932–33. After an internship in a bank in Wil, canton of St. Gallen, she earned a business teaching diploma in 1937 and a doctor's degree in economics in 1943 thanks to a thesis about the indust ...
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Liselotte Spreng
Liselotte Spreng (15 February 1912 – 25 November 1992) was a Switzerland, Swiss women's rights activist and politician. She was the first female National Council (Switzerland), National Councillor from the canton of Fribourg. Life and career Liselotte Spreng was born in 1912 in Biel/Bienne to a physician. She studied medicine at the universities of University of Bern, Bern and University of Lausanne, Lausanne and opened a surgery with her husband in Fribourg in 1941. She was among the first women physicians in the canton. Spreng campaigned for women's suffrage in Switzerland, women's suffrage and became the chairwoman of the Fribourg Organisation for Women's Suffrage in 1967. After women's suffrage was introduced in the canton of Fribourg in 1971, Spreng represented FDP.The Liberals, The Liberals in the Grand Council of Fribourg. In 1971 Swiss federal election, 1971, she was elected as the first female representative of the canton of Fribourg to the National Council (Switzerla ...
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Hanna Sahlfeld-Singer
Hanna Sahlfeld-Singer (born 17 October 1943) is a Swiss former politician. She was one of the first group of women elected to the National Council in 1971, serving until 1975. Biography Sahlfeld-Singer was born in Flawil in October 1943, the daughter of Margrith (née Hohl) and Werner Singer (a master weaver).HannaSahlfeld-Singer
Historisches Lexicon der Schweiz
After attending primary and secondary school in Flawil, she completed her education at the cantonal school in St. Gallen. She subsequently studied Protestant theology. In 1968 she married Rolf Sahfeld, a pastor, and began carrying out part time pastoral work in

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Martha Ribi
Martha Ribi-Raschle (28 November 1915 – 4 October 2010) was a Swiss politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). She was among the first women to seat in the National Council in 1971. Biography She was born on 28 November 1915 in Zürich. She was the daughter of a bank employee. She obtained the ''matura'' in 1935 and stayed in Italy and England to learn languages. She got married in 1936. After the early death of her husband, she worked as a secretary for the medical service of the City of Zürich from 1945 to 1977 before she became an adjunct professor in 1964. In the meantime, she studied economics at the University of Zurich from 1957 to 1963 and earned a licentiate degree. She joined the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland in 1963 and became a member of the party's Women's Union (SVFF). In 1970, she unsuccessfully stood in the Zürich communal council election. After women's suffrage was introduced in the canton of Zürich, Ribi was elected to the Cantonal Council of ...
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Gabrielle Nanchen
Gabrielle Nanchen is a Swiss politician and author. In 1971, she became one of the first 10 women elected to the National Council of Switzerland, serving in that body until 1979. She was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland. Since leaving office, she has written books on her personal pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela and Africa. Biography Gabrielle Stragiotti was born on 31 March 1943 in Aigle, Switzerland, in the Canton of Vaud. Her father was of Italian descent while her mother was of French descent. She graduated from the University of Lausanne with a degree in social science. In 1967, she married Maurice Nanchen and the couple settled in Maurice's home town of Icogne in the Canton of Valais. Nanchen became active in politics in part because she lost the right to vote when she moved to Valais. Her home canton of Vaud granted women's suffrage in 1959; but Valais would not grant the right to vote to women until 1970. After Switzerland granted women the r ...
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Josi Meier
Josephine Johanna "Josi" Meier (31 August 1926 in Dagmersellen – 4 November 2006 in Lucerne) was a Swiss politician and feminist. She was one of the first women in the Swiss parliament and had been called the "Grand Old Lady" of Swiss politics. She served as a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland. She was the first woman President of the Swiss Council of States. Early life Meier was born in 1926 in Dagmersellen in the Canton of Lucerne. Her parents were Nicholas Meier, a hotel porter, and Josi Kumschick, a waitress and housewife. During her childhood, the family moved to the city of Lucerne. She attended the University of Geneva to study law and became a registered lawyer in 1952. Political career From 1959 to 1971, Meier was a member of the secondary school board in Lucerne and was a strong supporter of women's suffrage. In 1971—the same year that Switzerland granted women the right to vote—Meier was voted into Lucerne's cantonal parliament an ...
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Hedi Lang
Hedi Lang (30 October 1931 – 31 March 2004) was a Swiss politician. She was one of the first women to be elected to the Swiss National Council, the first woman elected to a cantonal executive and the second woman to serve as President of the National Council. She was a member of the Social Democratic Party. Biography Hedi Lang was born on 30 October 1931 in Uster to Johann Gehri, a cheesemaker from Seedorf, Bern. She married Ernst Lang in 1957 and apprenticed at banks for several years before joining the staff of ''Die Arbeit'', the socialist newspaper where her husband was the editor. In 1961, she joined the Social Democratic Party and in 1970, she was elected to the council of Wetzikon, where she and Ernst moved after their marriage. In the 1971 Swiss federal election, women were permitted to vote in federal elections for the first time. Lang was elected to the National Council as one of 10 women that year, the first to serve in the Federal Assembly. She rose to become the ...
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Tilo Frey
Tilo Frey (2 May 1923 – 27 June 2008) ) was a Swiss politician. She was one of the first twelve women elected to the National Council in 1971 and was the first person of African descent elected to the National Council. Prior to her service at the federal level, she was a member of the municipal council of Neuchâtel and the Grand Council of Neuchâtel. Early life and education Frey was born in Maroua, Cameroon, as the daughter of a Swiss father, Paul Frey of Brugg, and a Fula mother, Fatimatou Bibabadama. She was adopted by Katscha Frey. As a mixed-race child in Switzerland, Frey faced considerable racism. Even her father advised her to "act as white as a lily". She attended school in Canton Neuchatel and vocational school in Neuchatel from 1938 – 1941. Professional career From 1943 to 1971 she taught business classes at the ''Ecole de commerce'' of Neuchâtel. After her political career came to an end, she returned to teaching and from 1976 to 1984, she was directo ...
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Elisabeth Blunschy
Elisabeth Blunschy (née Steiner; 13 July 1922 – 1 May 2015) was a Swiss politician. She served as the first woman President of the National Council of Switzerland and was one of the first women elected to the National Council of Switzerland. Biography Elisabeth Blunschy was born on 13 July 1922 in Schwyz. Her father, Hans Steiner, was a politician who served as a federal judge and a member of the National Council. She was raised in Lausanne and attended high school in Fribourg. She then studied law at the University of Lausanne and the University of Fribourg. She became the first women in her canton to be admitted to the bar. After her studies, she worked as a lawyer for several years. She became president of the Swiss Catholic Women's Association and then Caritas Switzerland, a social justice organization. In 1971, she won a seat in the National Council. Although women won the right to vote in federal elections earlier that year, her home Canton of Schwyz voted against wom ...
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