Monique Bauer-Lagier
Monique Bauer-Lagier (1 December 1922 - 19 February 2006) was a politician (LPS) in francophone Switzerland. For cantonal elections Geneva, her home canton and political base, introduced female suffrage as early as 1960, but at a national level Switzerland was more of a laggard, retaining male only voting for general elections till 1971. This meant that Bauer-Lagier was something of a trail blazer: women's rights featured strongly on her political agenda.[1][2]
Life
[edit]
Monique Lagier was born in Meyrin, then a farming village in the Canton of Geneva located a short distance to the north-west of the city. Jean and Thérèse Lagier, her parents, were teachers.[1]
She underwent a classical education and passed her school leaving exams (Matura) in 1941. Being female she was not required to perform military service, instead going on directly to obtain a degree in Pedagogy from the Institute of Education Sciences (" Institut des sciences de l'éducation") in Geneva.[3] After this she worked for eight years as a teacher.[2] Her political career started with her election in 1973 to the Geneva cantonal parliament: she retained her seat till 1977. Meanwhile, in 1975 she was elected to the National Council - effectively the lower house of the Swiss federal parliament. She switched to the upper house in 1979, remaining a member till 1987.[3] She also became a member of the national committee of the Liberal Party.[2]
She supported women's rights and was a strong advocate for the new marriage law and for equal rights for men and women more broadly in government commissions. She focused on Minority rights, Ecological protection, a new economic world order internationally between north and south, and meaningful dialogue between east and west.[2]
She was chair of several organisations - a parliamentary group for refugees, the International Geneva Peace Institute, Swiss Aids Support, Bread for All and the International Union of Swiss language parliamentarians.[1][4]
Personal
[edit]She married Paul-A. Bauer, a physician. The couple had three children.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Liliane Mottu-Weber (8 September 2010). "Bauer [-Lagier], Monique" (in French). Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, Berne. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d Liliane Mottu-Weber (8 September 2010). "Bauer e[-Lagier], Monique" (in German). Historischen Lexikon der Schweiz, Bern. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ a b "Bauer-Lagier, Monique (1922 - 2006)". Base de données des élites suisses au XXe s. Université de Lausanne. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ Collectif; Hans Küng (1997). Espérer: réponses à un appel. Labor et Fides. p. 55. ISBN 978-2-8309-0874-9.
- 1922 births
- 2006 deaths
- People from the canton of Geneva
- Swiss Calvinist and Reformed Christians
- Liberal Party of Switzerland politicians
- Women members of the National Council (Switzerland)
- Members of the National Council (Switzerland)
- Members of the Council of States (Switzerland)
- Canton of Geneva politicians
- Swiss feminists
- 20th-century Swiss women politicians
- Women members of the Council of States (Switzerland)
- 20th-century Swiss politicians