Gertrud ("Trudy") Späth-Schweizer (6 December 1908 – 19 October 1990)
was the first woman to hold a political office in
Switzerland. She was elected to the ''Bürgerrat'', the executive council of the
Bürgergemeinde, of
Riehen 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
Bürgergemeinde of
Riehen 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, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...
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
Riehen 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''.
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 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
feminists, however, she always refused, because she did not consider herself a feminist.
Trudy Späth-Schweizer died in 1990 in
Riehen. 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