The widow of national hero Sühbaatar was First Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Khural of Mongolia and acted as Chairman of the Presidium (i.e., head of the State) during a vacancy in that position from 23 Sep 1953 to 7 Jul 1954. If we consider such a post as having a real ruling status, she would have been (excepting queens) the actual first woman political ruler in contemporary history.
Song Qingling (Sung Ch'ing-ling) (1893-1981)
The widow (got married in 1914) of doctor Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Chinese Republic, and the sister-in-law of marshall Chiang Kai-shek, his successor as president of the Republic of China, constitutes a very special case. From 31 Oct 1968 to 24 Feb 1972 no head of state was mentioned in the People's Republic of China, as such a post remained vacant in the wake of Liu Shaoqi's fall into disgrace during the Cultural Revolution, and up to 1972 no acting president was appointed in the person of Dong Biwu. He and Song Qingling were vicepresidents by then (she was elected to the post in 1954, after being deputy premier since 1949), so, de facto (and in theory), both leaders shared the presidential duties in 1968-1972. Furthermore, when in 1976 Zhu De, the head of state by then as chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (the presidency of the Republic was officially abolished the previous year), passed away, a vacancy period was inaugurated and not filled until 1978, with the appointment of Ye Jianying. In this months were the 21 vice-chairmen, among them four women: Song Qingling, Cai Chang, Li Suwen, and (from 2 Dec 1976) Deng Yingchao, the widow of just deceased premier Zhou Enlai. Song became a member of the Communist Party only on her deathbed, and in 1980, shortly before her death, was elected "Honorary President" of the People's Republic of China.
María Estela ('Isabel') Martínez de Perón (1931-)
President of Argentina from 1 Jul 1974 to 24 Mar 1976. She succeeded his deceased husband, Juan Domingo Perón, as she held the vicepresidency of the Republic and the presidency of the Senate. Isabel Perón was the first woman who became president of a republic, both in America and in the world. And she also was the first one ousted in a military coup.
Lydia Gueiler Tejada (1926-2011)
Caretaker president of Bolivia from 17 Nov 1979 to 18 Jul 1980. She was deposed in a military coup.
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (1930-)
President of Iceland from 1 Aug 1980 to 1 Aug 1996, she has several "firsts": 1st woman president in Europe, 1st one elected directly by the people in the world and, when quitting in 1996, the longest-serving female political ruler in the world, as well as the doyen among all European non-monarch rulers.
Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini (1954-)
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marino in 1981 (1 Apr to 1 Oct).
Agatha Barbara (1923-2002)
President of Malta from 15 Feb 1982 to 15 Feb 1987. Second woman European president after Iceland's Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (see above).
Gloriana Ranocchini (1957-)
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marino twice: from 1 Apr to 1 Oct 1984 and from 1 Oct 1989 to 1 Apr 1990.
Carmen Pereira (1937-)
Acting president of Guinea Bissau from 14 May 1984 to 16 May 1984, in the capacity of chairman of the National People's Assembly.
Corazon (Cory) Aquino (1933-2009)
President of the Philippines from 25 Feb 1986 to 30 Jun 1992. Widow of opposition leader Benigno Aquino, assassinated in 1983. She was Asia's first woman president and the second elected by the people in the world.
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot (1943-)
Dame Ertha Pascal-Trouillot served as interim president of Haiti from 13 Mar 1990 to 7 Feb 1991. She was America's third female president and the second black female ruler in the continent after premier Eugenia Charles of Dominica.
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (1946-)
Chairing the Volkskammer of the late German Democratic Republic in 1990, she was the last, nominal and interim, head of State (Staatspräsident) before the German unification. Her testimonial tenure lasted six months: from 5 Apr to 2 Oct 1990. She was the only female head of State in the former East European Communist countries.
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1929-)
President of Nicaragua from 25 Apr 1990 to 10 Jan 1997. Widow of opposition leader Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, assassinated in 1978, she was the first woman elected president in America, the third in the world.
Mary Robinson (1944-)
President of Ireland from 3 Dec 1990 to 12 Sep 1997, when she unexpectedly resigned, three months before the expiration of her mandate. After that, she served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to 12 Sep 2002.
Edda Ceccoli
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marino from 1 Oct 1991 to 1 Apr 1992.
Patricia Busignani
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marino in 1993 (1 Apr to 1 Oct).
Sylvie Kinigi (1952-)
Acting President (de facto) of Burundi from 27 Oct 1993 to 5 Feb 1994. See profile at the Prime Ministers' page.
Chandrika Kumaratunga (1945-)
President of Sri Lanka from 14 Nov 1994 to 19 Nov 2005, although she also served as prime minister shortly before, from 19 Aug until her presidential oath taking. Her mother was the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike, three times prime minister of Sri Lanka, the last one at the moment of her demise in 2000, so Sri Lanka was the first republic in the world whose two top executive offices were simultaneously held by women; in addition, both posts were filled through democratic elections... and the daughter appointed the mother to hold the premiership in 1994. Chandrika's father and Sirimavo's husband, Solomon Bandaranaike, was assassinated while being prime minister in 1959. The same fate suffered Chandrika's husband, Vijaya Kumaratunga, also assassinated in 1988.
Ruth Perry (1939-)
Chairman of the Council of State (a six-member collective presidency) of the National Transitional Government of Liberia from 3 Sep 1996 to 2 Aug 1997. Perry has been, excepting Burundian premier Sylvie Kinigi, who acted as president briefly de facto in early 90s, Africa's first female head of State under a republican system.
Rosalía Arteaga Serrano (1956-)
Ephemeral caretaker president of Ecuador in 9-11 Feb 1997.
Mary McAleese (1951-)
President of Ireland from 11 Nov 1997 to 11 Nov 2011. She was the first woman to succeed another elected woman (Mary Robinson) as head of a State.
Janet Jagan (1920-2009)
President of Guyana from 19 Dec 1997 to 11 Aug 1999, but also prime minister from 17 Mar to 22 Dec 1997. She succeeded her husband Cheddi Jagan in the Presidency some months after his passing. The sixth woman to occupy the presidential office in America and the second one with an additional premiership experience in the world, after Sri Lanka's Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Ruth Dreifuss (1940-)
The first female Swiss head of State as president of the Confederation following a very, very long list of one-year male rulers. Dreifuss was elected by the Federal Assembly to serve as president of Switzerland for the period 1 Jan 1999-1 Jan 2000.
Rosa Zafferani (1960-)
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marino twice, from 1 Apr to 1 Oct 1999 and from 1 Apr to 1 Oct 2008.
Vaira Vike-Freiberga (1937-)
The first woman president of an East & Central European country, she was president of Latvia from 8 Jul 1999 to 8 Jul 2007.
Mireya Elisa Moscoso de Arias (1946-)
The first woman president of Panama served from 1 Sep 1999 to 1 Sep 2004. She is the widow of late president Arnulfo Arias Madrid, deceased in 1988. Second woman elected president in America.
Tarja Kaarina Halonen (1943-)
Finland's first woman president, since 1 Mar 2000. Her two six-year terms in office expire in 2012.
Maria Domenica Michelotti (1952-)
Co-captain regent of San Marino for the period 1 Apr 2000-1 Oct 2000. The sixth woman to become co-captain regent since 1981.
Maria Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (1947-)
President of the Philippines from 20 Jan 2001 to 30 Jun 2010. Daughter of late president Diosdado Macapagal and second woman president of this Asian State following Cory Aquino (1986-1992).
Megawati Sukarnoptri (1947-)
The daughter of the late president Sukarno was president of Indonesia from 23 Jul 2001 to 20 Oct 2004.
Valeria Ciavatta (1959-)
Co-captain regent of San Marino for the period 1 Oct 2003-1 Apr 2004. The seventh woman to become co-captain regent since 1981.
Nino Burdzhanadze (1964-)
Acting president of Georgia twice, from 23 Nov 2003 to 25 Jan 2004, and again from 25 Nov 2007 to 20 Jan 2008.
Fausta Simona Morganti (1944-)
Co-captain regent of San Marino for the period 1 Apr 2005-1 Oct 2005.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (1939-)
President of Liberia since 16 Jan 2006. She is Africa's first elected woman head of State.
Michelle Bachelet Jeria (1951-)
President of Chile from 11 Mar 2006 to 11 Mar 2010. America's third elected woman president.
Micheline Calmy-Rey (1945-)
President of the Swiss Confederation for the annual periods 1 Jan 2007-1 Jan 2008 and 1 Jan 2011-1 Jan 2012.
Dalia Itzik (1952-)
Being the speaker of the Parliament or Knesset, she ruled in 2007 as acting president of the State of Israel, from Jan 25, when the incumbent office-holder, Moshe Katzav, took a three month leave of absence to deal with criminal charges, to Jul 1, when Katzav resigned formally. Up to Jul 15, -the inauguration of Shimon Peres-, Itzik was interim president.
Pratibha Patil (1934-)
President of India since 25 jul 2007. Second India's stateswoman after late prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (1953-)
President of Argentina since 10 Dec 2007. Wife of previous president Néstor Kirchner, she is Argentina's second woman president and America's fourth elected woman president.
Assunta Meloni (1951-)
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marino from 1 Oct 2008 to 1 Apr 2009.
Rose Francine Rogombé (1942-)
Interim president of Gabon from 10 Jun to 16 Oct 2009.
Dalia Grybauskaite (1956-)
President of Lithuania since 12 Jul 2009. She is, after Latvia's Vaira Vike-Freiberga (1999-2007), the second stateswoman in the Baltic states.
Doris Leuthard (1963-)
President of the Swiss Confederation for the annual period 1 Jan 2010-1 Jan 2011.
Laura Chinchilla Miranda (1959-)
President of Costa Rica since 8 May 2010. The third woman president in a Central American nation and the fifth elected throughout the continent.
Roza Otunbayeva (1950-)
President of Kyrgyzstan from 19 May 2010 to 1 Dec 2011, after serving briefly as head of the Provisional Government. First woman president of a former Soviet central Asian state.
Dilma Rousseff (1947-)
President of Brazil since 1 Jan 2011.
Maria Luisa Berti (1971-)
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marino from 1 April to 1 October 2011.
Atifete Jahjaga (1975-)
President of Kosovo from 7 Apr 2011.
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (1956-)
President of the Swiss Confederation for the annual period 1 Jan 2012-1 Jan 2013.
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© Copyright ZPC, Roberto Ortiz de Zárate, 1996-2012 http://www.terra.es/personal2/monolith/00women2.htm mothman@teleline.es |