Maria Irausquin-Wajcberg (13 September 1897 – 15 April 1979) was an

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

n politician. In 1963 she became the first woman to be elected to Aruba Island Council.

Biography

Irausquin-Wajcberg was married twice. She had two children with her first husband, Isaac Pinkus, with whom she ran a shop called Pinkus Store in

San Nicolaas San Nicolaas () is southeast of Oranjestad, and is Aruba's second largest city. it has a population of 15,283, many of whom originate from the British Caribbean and the rest of the Caribbean. History According to oral tradition, San Nicolaas ...

from the 1930s. She later married

Juancho Irausquin Juan Enrique "Juancho" Yrausquin (3 December 1904 – 20 June 1962), also spelled Irausquin, was a Netherlands Antillean banker and politician of the Aruban Patriotic Party (PPA). He served as Minister of Finance and Welfare in the first and s ...

(1905–1962), a prominent Aruban politician. At the time of his death in 1962, he was Minister of Finance and Welfare of the

Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...

and leader of the

Aruban Patriotic Party The Aruban Patriotic Party ( Papiamento: ''Partido Patriotico di Aruba'', PPA; ) is a political party in Aruba. It was founded in 1949. Prior to Aruba's status aparte, it was a supporter of a unified, independent Netherlands Antilles. In the 2 ...

(PPA). In the 1963 Island Council elections, Irausquin-Wajcberg was the last-placed candidate on the PPA list, a slot usually reserved for prominent party members who do not expect to be elected. However, once preference votes were taken into account, she was elected to the Island Council, becoming its first female member. She did not stand for re-election in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

,Vier eilandsraadleden keren zeker niet terug
Amigoe di Curacao, 4 March 1967 and subsequently retired from politics. She died in 1979 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Oranjestad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irausquin-Wajcberg, Maria 1897 births Aruban women in politics Aruban Patriotic Party politicians 1979 deaths