Ursula Mauch (née Widmer; born 29 March 1935) is a Swiss chemist, educator and politician who served on the

National Council (Switzerland) The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly (Switzerland), Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States (Switzerland), Council of States, represents the states, preventing mor ...

from 1979 to 1995. She was the first female member to represent the

Canton of Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most northerly cantons of Switzerland, by th ...

constituency. She previously served on the

Grand Council of Aargau The Grand Council of Aargau () is the legislature of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau, in Switzerland. Aargau has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 140 seats, with members elected every four years. The most recent ele ...

from 1974 to 1980 for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. She is the mother of

Corine Mauch Corine Mauch (born 28 May 1960) is an American-born Swiss politician who currently serves as Mayor of Zurich since 2009. She previously served on the city council of Zürich between 1999 and 2008 for the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (o ...

, who currently serves as

Mayor of Zurich The mayor of the Swiss city of Zürich (''Stadtpräsident von Zürich'') presides the city council (''Stadtrat''). The office of mayor (''Bürgermeister'') was introduced with the guild revolution of 1336, and held by Rudolf Brun until 1360. ...

Early life and education

Mauch was born 29 March 1935 in Oftringen, Switzerland to Ernst Widmer, a butcher, and Margaritha Widmer. Her younger brother, Hans Widmer (b. 1940), became an industrialist who served as chief executive officer and chairman of

Oerlikon-Bührle ''Oerlikon-Bührle'' (full name ''Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon, Bührle & Co.'', initially ''Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon'') was a Switzerland, Swiss arms industry, armaments company based in Oerlikon (Zürich) from 1906 to 1999.Jürg Fink ...

. Mauch initially completed the ''École du Commerce'' in Neuchatel, followed by a diploma in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

at ''Technikum Winterthur'' (today Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur).

Career

Upon her return from the US, she became a chemistry and physics teacher at the commercial college in

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

. In 1986, she and her husband founded the research and communication agency INFRAS, which primarily consults in environmental issues.

Politics

In 1974, she was elected to serve on the

, a position she held through 1980. Ultimately, she served as the first female member of the

from 1979 to 1995.

Personal life

In 1958, she married Samuel Mauch (b. 1935), with whom she moved to the United States, where she resided between 1959 and 1964 and again in 1970/71, when her husband was a professor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. Her eldest daughter,

, was born in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

in 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mauch, Ursula 1935 births Living people Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Candidates for the Federal Council (Switzerland) Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 1991–1995 Women members of the National Council (Switzerland) 20th-century Swiss women politicians 20th-century Swiss politicians