Tilo Frey (2 May 1923 – 27 June 2008) ) was a

Swiss politician Switzerland is a semi-direct democracy, semi-direct democracy, democratic federal republic. The federal legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Federal Assembly (Switzerland), Federal Assembly: the National Council (Switzerland ...

. She was one of the first twelve women elected to the National Council in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

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 , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...

and the Grand Council of Neuchâtel.

Early life and education

Frey was born in

Maroua Maroua (Fula: Marwa 𞤥𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢) is the capital of the Far North Region of Cameroon, stretching along the banks of the Ferngo and Kaliao Rivers, in the foothills of the Mandara Mountains. The city had 301,371 inhabitants at the 2005 C ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, as the daughter of a Swiss father, Paul Frey of

Brugg , neighboring_municipalities = Gebenstorf, Habsburg, Hausen, Holderbank, Lupfig, Riniken, Rüfenach, Schinznach, Untersiggenthal, Villigen, Villnachern, Veltheim, Windisch , twintowns = Rottweil (Germany) , website ...

, and a

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-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 director of the ''Ecole professionnelle de jeunes filles''.

Political career

She became active in politics in 1959 once the

Canton of Neuchâtel The Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel (french: République et Canton de Neuchâtel); rm, Chantun Neuchâtel; it, Cantone di Neuchâtel is a French-speaking canton in western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782, of whom 39,654 (o ...

gave women the right to vote and run for public office. She joined the

Free Democratic Party of Switzerland french: Parti radical-démocratique it, Partito Liberale Radicale rm, Partida liberaldemocrata svizra , logo = Free Democratic Party of Switzerland logo French.png , logo_size = 200px , foundation = , dissolution = ...

(FDP) and was elected into the municipal council of Neuchâtel in 1964. When she was elected to the Grand Council of Neuchâtel 1969, she became the first person of color to serve in that body. In 1971, Swiss voters approved a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

giving women the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and to stand for office. Frey entered the race for the National Council in the

1971 Swiss federal election Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 31 October 1971. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1895 Although the Social Democratic Party received the most votes, the Free Democratic Party emerged as the l ...

and won a seat as a member of the FDP, joining nine other women who entered the Council. Media coverage at the time was heavily focused on her race during the campaign. In 1974 she resigned from municipal council in Neuchâtel. She was not re-elected to the National Council in the 1975 election. Among her key issues were equal pay for woman and legalized abortion. Frey died on 27 June 2008 in her hometown of Neuchâtel at the age of 85.

Legacy

In June 2019, Neuchâtel changed the name of Espace Louis-Agassiz, near the Faculty of Letters of the

University of Neuchâtel The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking university based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, law and eco ...

area, to Espace Tilo Frey.

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

, who was a professor at the university in natural history and

glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, climato ...

. Now recognized as having racist views, Agassiz published work on

polygenism Polygenism is a theory of human origins which posits the view that the human races are of different origins (''polygenesis''). This view is opposite to the idea of monogenism, which posits a single origin of humanity. Modern scientific views no ...

that claimed a ranking of the races in which blacks were inferior to whites and defended racial segregation.

References

External links