Gertrud ("Trudy") Späth-Schweizer (6 December 1908 – 19 October 1990) was the first woman to hold a political office in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. She was elected to the ''Bürgerrat'', the executive council of the

Bürgergemeinde The Bürgergemeinde (also Burgergemeinde, Ortsgemeinde, Ortsbürgergemeinde, Tagwen, bourgeoisie, commune bourgeoise, vischnanca burgaisa, en, Citizen's Community) is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland. It includes all individu ...

, of

Riehen Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton. Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately ...

in 1958. Gertrud Späth was born as a farmer's and innkeeper's daughter in Riehen. She attended the ''Frauenarbeitsschule'' ("Women's Work School") in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

and was then employed for five years as head of the box office of the City Theater of Basel. After marrying Ernst Schweizer, a master carpenter, in 1932, she remained a housekeeper and assisted her husband in his workshop. In the summer of 1958, the

was the first in Switzerland to introduce

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

for local elections and referendums (at the national level, Swiss women would not gain the vote until 1971.) Späth-Schweizer, by then a mother of two and well regarded in the local community, did not initially intend to enter politics. But when it appeared certain that a female

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

candidate would be elected in the governmental elections in autumn 1958, the conservative ''Mittelstands- und Gewerbepartei'' ("Middle Class and Commerce Party") hastily asked Späth-Schweizer to contest the election on their behalf, which she did. On 29 September 1958, the citizens' assembly of

elected Späth-Schweizer to the ''Bürgerrat'' ("citizens' council") with 336 against 210 votes. The apparent irregularities of the vote – more votes were cast than there were people in the room – do not appear to have bothered anybody at the time, and the first election of a Swiss woman to political office was widely reported in the media, including even by the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

''. Späth-Schweizer served for 16 years on the ''Bürgerrat''. That council was the executive branch of the ''Bürgergemeinde'' ("citizens' community"), the public body responsible for issues involving only citizens of Riehen, such as social services. It was independent of the ''Einwohnergemeinde'' ("residents' community"), the

polity A polity is an identifiable Politics, political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relation, social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize ...

responsible for matters concerning all residents. She was a very popular politician, concerned mainly with social issues, and was often asked for advice by her male colleagues. When asked to speak to Swiss

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

s, however, she always refused, because she did not consider herself a feminist. Trudy Späth-Schweizer died in 1990 in

. In 2008, on her hundredth birthday and 50 years after her election, the municipality of Riehen named an alley after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaeth-Schweizer, Trudy 1908 births 1990 deaths Politicians from Basel-Stadt 20th-century Swiss women politicians 20th-century Swiss politicians People from Riehen