Reply #25: But in the modern "civilized" world, it rarer than it was in the ancient

[BrklynLiberal]

world.
Interestingly enough, the more industrialized countries were not in the forefront of women in leadership positions.

Women Prime Ministers
1945-2005

Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1916-2000)
Prime minister of Sri Lanka three times: from 21 Jul 1960 to 27 Mar 1965, from 29 May 1970 to 23 Jul 1977 and from 14 Nov 1994 to 10 Aug 2000. First woman prime minister in world history and probably the oldest female political leader in active by the time of her demise. Widow of Solomon Bandaranaike, prime minister in 1956 and assassinated in office in 1959. She received her third government mandate from her own daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga, who was to be sworn in as president by then. This was the first time in history that a woman succeeded another woman by elections.

Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)
Prime minister of India twice, from 19 Jan 1966 to 24 Mar 1977 and from 14 Jan 1980 to her assassination on 31 Oct 1984. Second generation of the Nehru-Gandhi saga, her father Jawaharlal Nehru ruled India from the independence in 1947 to his death in 1964. Her younger son and political heir, Sanjay, had passed away in plane crash in 1980, so elder Rajiv assumed the leadership of the Congress Party and, automathically, the premiership. In 1991 Rajiv, two years after leaving the Government, suffered the same fate than his mother and was assassinated as well. Currently the widow of Rajiv and daughter-in-law of Indira, Sonia Gandhi, leads the party and the opposition to the nationalist Government.

Golda Meir (1898-1978)
Prime minister of Israel from 17 Mar 1969 to 3 Jun 1974 and third women in the world to reach that post behind Sri Lanka's Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1960) and India's Indira Gandhi (1966).

Elisabeth Domitien (1926-2005)
Prime minister of the Central African Republic from 3 Jan 1975 to 7 Apr 1976, as first holder of the just created post of premier upon decision of dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa. She came up to local politics in early 70s, by 1972 she was given the vicepresidency of the only legal party, the Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa (MESAN), and from 1975 ruled as vicepresident of the Republic. In Apr 1976, following some statements of Bokassa favouring the monarchy for the CAR, Domitien publicly spoke out against such a project, so Bokassa fired her on the spot. After Bokassa's ousting in 1979, Domitien was briefly imprisioned and in 1980 was put on trial. Impeded to remain active in politcs, she retained a high profile at home and abroad as an influential businesswoman. Next to nobody knows, but she was Africa's first woman prime minister and the first black woman ruler of an independent State. Nevertheless, it must be said that Empress Zauditu ruled on Ethiopia from 1917 to 1930 and 'Mantsebo Amelia 'Matsaba Sempe was Queen-Regent of Lesotho from 1941 to 1960, albeit under colonial rule. Another Queen-Regent of Lesotho, 'MaMohato Tabitha 'Masentle Lerotholi, served for first time briefly in 1970, four years after the independence.

Margaret Thatcher (1925-)
Prime minister of the United Kingdom from 4 May 1979 to 28 Nov 1990. First woman elected ruler in Europe.

Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo (1930-2004)
Prime minister of Portugal from 1 Aug 1979 to 3 Jan 1980.

Mary Eugenia Charles (1919-)
Prime minister of Dominica from 21 Jul 1980 to 14 Jun 1995. Second black woman ruler in the world behind Central Africa's Elisabeth Domitien, first Caribbean (and American) female premier and third American female ruler.

Gro Harlem Brundtland (1939-)
Prime minister of Norway three times: from 4 Feb to 14 Oct 1981, from 9 May 1986 to 16 Oct 1989 and from 3 Nov 1990 to 25 Oct 1996. She currently serves as as chief of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Milka Planinc (1924-)
Federal prime minister of former Socialist Yugoslavia from 16 May 1982 to 15 May 1986. The only (and probably the last) woman premier of a communist country in history.

Benazir Bhutto (1953-)
Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2 Dec 1988 to 6 Aug 1990, and again from 19 Oct 1993 to 5 Nov 1996. Daughter of former ruler Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (president in 1971-1973 and prime minister in 1972-1977), who was overthrown in 1977 and executed by the military regime of general Zia ul-Haq in 1979, belongs to the selected group of Asian women leaders, along with Sri Lanka's Chandrika Kumaratunga, Bangladesh' Khaleda Zia and Hasina Wajed, Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi, Indonesia's Megawati Sukarnoputri or Japan's Takako Doi. Additionally, she is credited with being the first woman prime minister of a muslim country.

Kazimiera Danutë Prunskienë (1943-)
Prime minister of Lithuania from 17 Mar 1990 to 10 Jan 1991.

Khaleda Zia (1945-)
Prime minister of Bangladesh from 20 Mar 1991 to 30 Mar 1996 and again from 10 Oct 2001 to currently. Widow of the late dictator Ziaur Rahman, assassinated in 1981. Close rival of Hasina Wajed, daughter of the father of de independence Mujibur Rahman.

Edith Cresson (1934-)
Prime minister of France from 15 May 1991 to 2 Apr 1992.

Hanna Suchocka (1946-)
Prime minister of Poland from 8 Jul 1992 to 26 Oct 1993.

Kim Campbell (1947-)
Prime minister of Canada from 25 Jun to 5 Nov 1993. First woman ruler in North America.

Tansu Çiller (1946-)
Prime minister of Turkey from 25 Jun 1993 to 7 Mar 1996. She belongs to the reduced but notable group of women rulers in muslim countries, along with Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto, Bangladesh' Hasina Wajed and Khaleda Zia, and Indonesia's Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Sylvie Kinigi (1952?-)
Prime minister of Burundi from 10 Jul 1993 to 11 Feb 1994. Kinigi's brief tenure lasted in a very critical period in Burundi's contemporary history. When the just democratically elected president Melchior Ndadaye, an ethnic hutu, and other senior cabinet members were killed on 21 Oct 1993 by tutsi military plotters, Kinigi, a moderate member of the tutsi-based National Party for Unity and Progress (UPRONA), could preserve her life by sheltering in the French embassy at Bujumbura. During six chaotic days her performance was decisive to terminate the crisis and restore the order: her Government assumed collectively the presidential functions, she successfully called for the international powers to support her and additionally gained the loyalty of most of the Army officers, which distanced itself from the rebel Junta. In fact, Kinigi continued acting as president until the takeover of president Cyprien Ntaryamira on 5 Feb 1994.

Agathe Uwilingiyimana (1953-1994)
Prime minister of Rwanda from 18 Jul 1993 to her death on 7 Apr 1994. After heading during almost a year a precarious but promising coalition cabinet -the presidential and hutu-based National Revolutionary Movement (MRN), the tutsi guerrilla rebels' Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) and her moderate and multiethnic Rwandan Democratic Movement (MDR)-, the hutu radicals began a massive killing of tutsi people and moderate hutus, taking as excuse the obscure assassination of president Juvenal Habyarimana, on 6 Apr Mrs. Uwilingiyimana was one of the first personalities eliminated by the armed militias. No other world woman ruler had lost her life during a rebellion at the moment, but India's Indira Gandhi also died in violent circumstances ten years before.

Chandrika Kumaratunga (1945-)
Prime minister of Sri Lanka from 19 Aug to Nov 1994. See more at the Presidents' page.

Reneta Indzhova (1953-)
Interim prime minister of Bulgaria from 16 Oct 1994 to 25 Jan 1995.

Claudette Werleigh (1944-)
Prime minister of Haiti from 7 Nov 1995 to 27 Feb 1996.

Sheikh Hasina Wajed (1947-)
Prime minister of Bangladesh from 23 Jun 1996 to 15 Jul 2001. Daughter of a former statesman (like India's Indira Gandhi, Sri Lanka's Chandrika Kumaratunga, Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto and Indonesia's Megawati Sukarnoputri), Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the independence in 1971 and first prime minister of Bangladesh, assassinated in 1975. Close rival of Khaleda Zia, for her part widow of the late president Ziaur Rahman, within the parliamentary democracy.

Janet Jagan (1920-)
Prime minister of Guyana from 17 Mar 1997 to December 19, 1997. See more at the Presidents' page.

Jenny Shipley (1952-)
Prime minister of New Zealand from 8 Dec 1997 to 10 Dec 1999. Shipley was not only the first woman ruler in New Zealand (aside from former governor-general Catherine Tizard, with token duties), but in an independent state of South Pacific/Oceania as well.

Irena Degutienë (1949-)
Acting prime minister of Lithuania twice, from 4 to 18 May 1999 and from 27 Oct to 3 Nov 1999. Second Lithuanian premier behind Kazimiera Prunskiene in early 90s.

Nyam-Osoriyn Tuyaa (1958-)
Acting prime minister of Mongolia from 22 to 30 Jul 1999,

Helen Elizabeth Clark (1950-)
On 10 Dec 1999 Helen Clark became the second consecutive woman prime minister of New Zealand, succeeding Jenny Shipley.

Mame Madior Boye (1940-)
Prime minister of Senegal from 3 Mar 2001 to 4 Nov 2002.

Chang Sang (1939-)
Acting and ephemeral prime minister of South Korea in 2002: from 11 Jul, by appointment of president Kim Dae Jung, to 31 Jul, when the Parliament rejected her.

Maria das Neves Ceita Baptista de Sousa
Prime minister of Sâo Tomé and Príncipe from 7 Oct 2002 to 16 Jul 2003, when was deposed, together with president Fradique de Menezes, in a military coup.

Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (1955-)
Prime minister of Finland from 17 Apr to 18 Jun 2003, when resigned. The country's first -and ephemeral- woman premier.

Beatriz Merino Lucero (1948-)
Prime minister of Peru from 28 Jun to 15 Dec 2003.

Luísa Dias Diogo (1958-)
Prime minister of Mozambique from 17 Feb 2004.

Radmila Sekerinska (1972-)
Acting prime minister of Macedonia twice in 2004, from 12 May to 12 Jun and from 18 Nov to 17 Dec.

Yuliya Tymoshenko (1960-)
Prime minister of Ukraine since 24 Jan 2005.

Maria do Carmo Silveira
Prime minister of Sâo Tomé and Príncipe from 8 Jun 2005.

Women Presidents
1945-2005

Sühbaataryn Yanjmaa (1893-1962)
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 absolute 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 (then Taiwan), 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-)
Served as president of Argentina from 1 Jul 1974 to 24 Mar 1976. Was married since 1961 with Juan Domingo Perón, president in the terms 1946-1955 and 1973-1974, and replaced him automatically in his death as she held the vicepresidency of the Republic and the presidency of the Senate since the 1973 electoral victory of the 'Perón-Perón' formula. In fact. Perón's incapacitation forced her to act as president since Jun 29. She was the first woman who became president, both in America and in the world. And also was the first one ousted in a military coup.

Lydia Gueiler Tejada (1926-)
Caretaker president of Bolivia from 17 Nov 1979 to 18 Jul 1980. Deposed in a military coup.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (1930-)
President of Iceland from 1 Aug 1980 to 1 Aug 1996, has got several "firsts": 1st woman president in Europe, 1st one elected directly by the people in the world and when quitting in 1996 was the female political ruler longest-time in office in the world, as well as the doyen among all European non-monarch rulers.

Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini (1953?-)
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marin in 1981 (1 Apr to 1 Oct).

Agatha Barbara (1923-2002)
President of Malta from 15 Feb 1982 to 15 Feb 1987. Second woman president in Europe behind Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (see above).

Gloriana Ranocchini (1957-)
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marino 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-)
President of the Philippines from 25 Feb 1986 to 30 Jun 1992. Widow of Benigno Aquino, assassinated in 1983. Asia's first woman president.

Ertha Pascal Trouillot (1943-)
Dame Ertha Pascal-Trouillot served as interim president of Haiti from 13 Mar 1990 to 7 Feb 1991. America's third female president and second black female ruler in the continent after Dominica's premier Eugenia Charles.

Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (1946-)
Chairman of the Volkskammer of the late German Democratic Republic in 1990 was the last head of State (Staatspräsident), nominal and interim, before the unification. Her testimonial tenure lasted six months: from 5 Apr to 2 Oct 1990. In fact, the only female head of State in former communist East Europe.

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1929-)
President of Nicaragua from 25 Apr 1990 to 10 Jan 1997. Widow of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, assassinated in 1978.

Mary Robinson (1944-)
President of Ireland from 3 Dec 1990 to 12 Sep 1997, when 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 since 14 Nov 1994, although also served as prime minister before, from 19 Aug to her presidential oath taking. Daughter of 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 has been the first republic in the world whose two top executive offices were simultaneously held by women; in addition, both posts have been filled through democratic elections... and the daughter appointed the mother to hold the premiership in 1994. Chandrika's father and Sirimavo's husband, Solomon, 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 Liberia from 3 Sep 1996 to 2 Aug 1997. Perry has been, excepting queens (and Burundian premier Sylvie Kinigi, who acted as president briefly de facto in early 90s), Africa's first female head of State

Rosalía Arteaga Serrano (1956-)
Ephemeral caretaker president of Ecuador in 9-11 Feb 1997.


Mary McAleese (1951-)
President of Ireland since 11 Nov 1997. First woman president having succeeded another one, Mary Robinson, in history.

Janet Jagan (1920-)
President of Guyana from 19 Dec 1997 to 11 Aug 1999, but also prime minister from 17 Mar to 22 Dec 1997. Succeeded her husband Cheddi Jagan in the Presidency some months after his passing. The sixth woman occupying the presidential office in America and the second one with an additional premiership experience in the world (the first one was 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 the term 1 Jan 1999-1 Jan 2000.

Rosa Zafferani (1960-)
Co-Captain-regent (head of State and Government) of San Marino from 1 Apr to 1 Oct 1999.

Vaira Vike-Freiberga (1937-)
The first woman to be president of a country in East/Central Europe or came out with the former Soviet Union, was electer by the Parliament of Latvia on 17 Jun 1999 for a four-year term starting on Jul 8.

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 (1988) of former president Arnulfo Arias Madrid.

Tarja Kaarina Halonen (1943-)
Finland's first woman president, since 1 Mar 2000. Her tenure expires in 2006.

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 since 20 Jan 2001. Daughter of late president Diosdado Macapagal and second woman president of this Asian State.

Megawati Sukarnoptri (1947-)
The daughter of the late president Sukarno is 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 from 23 Nov 2003 to 25 Jan 2004.

Fausta Simona Morganti (1944-)
Co-captain regent of San Marino for the period 1 Apr 2005-1 Oct 2005.