Erzsébet Vass (''née'' Metzker; 20 March 1915 – 8 August 1980) was a Hungarian politician, who served as

Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary The Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország Országgyűlésének elnöke, literally the President of National Assembly of Hungary) is the presiding officer of the National Assembly of Hungary. The current Speaker is Lás ...

between 1963 and 1967. She was the first woman who held this position in Hungary.

Early life and education

Erzsébet Metzker was born 20 March 1915 in the

Budafok Budafok (german: Promontor; literally "Promontory near Buda, or Buda Point") is a neighbourhood in Budapest, Hungary. It is situated in the southwestern part of Buda, near the Danube, and belongs to District XXII. Budafok was an independent munici ...

neighborhood of Budapest in what at the time was

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

to Teréz (née Berghammer) and János Metzker. Her mother was a factory worker and her father was a painter. At the age of fourteen, she became a factory worker and completed training at the Albertfalva Rubber Factory in 1930. She married Márton Andra in 1931 and had two children with him before they divorced in 1947. In 1933, Andra began working at the Lóden Post Factory, but was terminated for participating in a strike. She became a welder at the Budafoki Enamel Factory in 1934 and was promoted to do

scribing A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost mos ...

in the enamel workshop in 1939. She left factory work in 1947, the same year she married stonemason, István Vass.

Political career

Vass joined the

Social Democratic Party of Hungary The Social Democratic Party of Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szociáldemokrata Párt, MSZDP) is a social democratic political party in Hungary. Historically, the party was dissolved during the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany (1944–1945) ...

in 1939 and during the war was politically active. In 1945, she switched her alliance to the

Hungarian Communist Party The Hungarian Communist Party ( hu, Magyar Kommunista Párt, abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary ( hu, Kommunisták Magyarországi Pártja, abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar ...

and began serving on the Budafok party committee. After attending party schooling in 1946, Vass joined the leadership of the Democratic Association of Hungarian Women, becoming the organization's secretary general in 1950. That year she also became a founder of the National Peace Council, an organization she would become vice president of from 1972 until 1980. She was appointed to the Executive Council of the

Women's International Democratic Federation Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international organization with the stated goal of working for women's rights. It was established in 1945 and was most active during the Cold War. It initially focussed on anti-fascism, worl ...

in 1951, and re-elected in 1953, serving until 1956. Vass became a member of the

Hungarian National Assembly The National Assembly ( hu, Országgyűlés, lit=Country Assembly) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-proporti ...

in 1953 and was elected as its vice president in 1955, serving until 1963. She was elected as the first woman to serve as the

in 1963 and held that office until 1967. She was awarded the (Socialist Hungarian Order of Merit) in 1980 and died that year on 8 August, while still serving in the National Assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metzker Vass, Erzsebet 1915 births 1980 deaths Women members of the National Assembly of Hungary Speakers of the National Assembly of Hungary Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party 20th-century Hungarian women politicians Women's International Democratic Federation people