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 (, literally the president of National Assembly) is the presiding officer of the National Assembly of Hungary. The current speaker is László Kövér, since 6 August 2010. The speaker of the Nat ...

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 (; 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 municipality before ...

neighborhood of Budapest in what at the time was

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

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 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 (, , MSZDP) is a social democracy, social democratic list of political parties in Hungary, political party in Hungary. Historically, the party was dissolved during Government of National Unity (Hungary), the ...

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

Hungarian Communist Party The Hungarian Communist Party (, , abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary (, , abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar period and briefly after World War II. It was founded on Novem ...

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 The Democratic Association of Hungarian Women (Hungarian: ''Magyar Nők Demokratikus Szövetsége'' or MNDSZ), was a state women's organization in Communist Hungary, founded in 1945.Marilyn Rueschemeyer, Women in the Politics of Postcommunist Eas ...

, 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 The Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international women's rights organization. Established in 1945, it was most active during the Cold War when, according to historian Francisca de Haan, it was "the largest and probably ...

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