Talk:List of the first female members of parliament by country

Discussion on missing or incomplete entries

Countries with no information

Azerbaijan

At some point during Soviet era. This list of 1937 Soviet deputies may contain a few. Possibly:

• Çimnaz Aslanova
• Leyla Babazade
• Basti Bagirova
• Sona Nuriyeva
• Zahra Rustam kizi Mamedova (Nakhchivan)
• Zeynab Shabanova (Nakhchivan)
• Varsenik Sergeevna Beglyaryan (Nagorno-Karabakh)

Belarus

At some point during Soviet era. This list of 1937 Soviet deputies may contain a few. Possibly:

• Elizaveta Vasilievna Belaya
• Olga Efimovna Bogacheva
• Sukleta Silkovna Evmenova
• Ekaterina Sergeevna Zhurankova
• Nadezhda Semyonovna Lelina
• Nina Petrovna Lisunova
• Evdokia Nesterovna Minova
• Elizaveta Ignatievna Papkova
• Sofia Petrovna Rachok
• Maria Nikolaevna Chernik?

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Possibly some of those listed at #Former Yugoslav countries. Need to determine if any were elected from constituencies in Bosnia.

Croatia

Some of those listed at #Former Yugoslav countries. Need to determine which ones were elected from constituencies in Croatia.

East Timor

No details.

Eritrea

During Ethiopian era? Maybe in the elections in the 1950s? No elected parliament since independence

Kazakhstan

At some point during Soviet era. This list of 1937 Soviet deputies may contain a few. Possibly:

• Olga Timofeevna Koteneva
• Salih Ongarbaev

Kosovo

Possibly some of those listed at #Former Yugoslav countries. Need to determine which ones were elected from constituencies in Kosovo.

Kyrgyzstan

At some point during Soviet era. This list of 1937 Soviet deputies may contain a few. Possibly:

• Kalima Amankulova
• Valentina Grizodubova
• Anna Konstantinovna Zakharenko
• Zuurakan Kaynazarova
• Fedosia Afanasevna Strelnikova
• Oguljan Tokhtabaeva

Libya

No details.

Moldova

At some point during Soviet era. This list of 1937 Soviet deputies may contain a few. Possibly Domakha Emelyanovna Otyan?

Mongolia

No details.

Montenegro

Possibly some of those listed at #Former Yugoslav countries. Need to determine if any were elected from constituencies in Montenegro.

Namibia

Contrary to IPU claim, there were women members before 1989. Possibly Anna Frank?

North Macedonia

Some of those listed at #Former Yugoslav countries. Need to determine which ones were elected from constituencies in Macedonia.

Northern Cyprus

Was Ayla Halit Kazım also a member of the TRNC's provisional parliament?

Serbia

Some of those listed at #Former Yugoslav countries. Need to determine which ones were elected from constituencies in Serbia.

Slovenia

Some of those listed at #Former Yugoslav countries. Need to determine which ones were elected from constituencies in Slovenia.

South Sudan

No details.

Tajikistan

At some point during Soviet era. This list of 1937 Soviet deputies may contain a few. Possibly:

• Masturi Avezova
• Kazygul Mukhamedieva
• Ona Nadyrbabaeva
• Almasarida Georgievna Smagina
• Gavgar Sharipova

Tokelau

Possibly Vaelua Lopa?

Turkmenistan

At some point during Soviet era. This list of 1937 Soviet deputies may contain a few. Possibly:

• Ayjamal Kurbanova
• Tase Gul Matsharipova
• Sapar Durdynyaz Mukhamedova

Uzbekistan

At some point during Soviet era. This list of 1937 Soviet deputies may contain a few. Possibly:

• Majuda Abdurakhmanova
• Tursun Arinova
• Gulzara Artykova
• Tajihon Askarova
• Khismat Akhmedova
• Makhinisa Babarahimova
• Rahimi Bazarova
• Inambibi Ismailova
• Rakhat Kadyrova
• Kariya Karimova
• Zinaida Mikhailovna Kuraeva
• Pasha Makhmudova
• Aimnis Mirahmedova

Other unrecognised countries & territories currently not listed

• Abkhazia
• Artsakh
• Saint Barthélemy
• Saint Martin
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon
• Sint Maarten
• South Ossetia

Former Yugoslav countries

From the Martin book and parliamentary record

Assembly

1. Bosa Cvetić (sr:Боса Цветић) – Serbia?
2. Božidarka Kika Damjanović-Marković – Serbia?
3. Elizabeta Frntić
4. Milka Kufrin (sh:Milka Kufrin) – Croatia?
5. Ljubilnka Milosavljević – Serbia?
6. Milka Minić (sr:Милка Минић) – Serbia?
7. Mara Naceva – Macedonia?
8. Vida Tomšič – Slovenia?
9. Stanka Veselinov-Munćan (sr:Станка Веселинов) – Serbia?

House of Nationalities

1. Vera Aceva – Macedonia?
2. Anka Berus – Croatia?
3. Spasenija Babović (sr:Спасенија Цана Бабовић) – Serbia?
4. Ljiljana Čalovska – Macedonia?
5. Pepca Kardelj – Slovenia?
6. Veselinka Malinska – Macedonia?
7. Radmila Manojlović
8. Mira Milošević
9. Mitra Mitrović – Serbia?
10. Zora Nikolić – Bosnia?
11. Kata Pejnović – Croatia?
12. Lidija Šentjurc (sl:Lidija Šentjurc) – Slovenia?

Countries with years known but names not

Angola

19 women elected in 1980. Were there women in the provisional parliament after independence?

Benin

28 women elected in 1979

Burundi

Five women elected in 1982, only one name (Colette Samoya Kirura) so far.

Bangladesh

Need to identify first elected women – 12 were elected in the 1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election

DR Congo

12 women elected in 1970.

Guinea

14 women elected in 1963, possibly including Nima Ba and Loffo Camara

Indonesia

Missing names of some of the first directly-elected women and need certainty on how many.

Iraq

16 women elected in 1980.

Mauritania

Two women elected in 1975. Possibly Khaddaja mint Emir and Mariem Mint Sidel Moktar?

North Korea

69 women elected in 1948.

Saudi Arabia

30 women appointed in 2013.

Somalia

18 women elected in 1979.

Vietnam

Ten women elected in 1946

Wallis and Futuna

Two elected in 1992. Possibly in this Le Monde article.

Countries with competing claims

Dominican Republic

Although the more definitive sources state that three women were elected, some give five names, with María Guzmán and Angélica Sanabia de Rojas as the additional ones. Were these two actually elected, or possibly substitutes?

Eswatini

Although Lomasontfo Dludlu is stated to be the first woman elected in 1993, the results in the official gazette also list Ellenah Nyawo as having been elected. To add to the confusion, the Mart Martin book also claims that Mary Mdziniso was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1972 elections, as opposed to remaining an appointed member of the Senate.

Guatemala

Grace de Zirión is also claimed to be the first deputy in 1955

Kuwait

Massouma al-Mubarak was appointed to the cabinet in 2005 and ministers sit in the National Assembly on an ex officio basis. However, I cannot find any sources that confirms she actually sat in the legislature, although the one woman mentioned here is almost certainly her.

Mexico

Hermila Galindo reportedly first Congresswoman in 1952. Some sources also claim she was elected in 1917 but her victory was annulled.

São Tomé

One woman (Maria Augusta da Silva) was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1975 (preceding the currently listed women). However, this body had 'an exclusive mandate' to produce a constitution, so I'm not clear on whether it members would count as members of a parliament?

Other conflicting information

Germany

Some sources (including the Bundestag) state that 37 women were elected in 1919. However, their list includes Gertrud Lodahl, who was not elected initially, but entered the Reichstag as a replacement for an elected member who resigned a month after the election.

Myanmar

I have listed Hnin Mya as being elected in 1932, but there are sources stating she was elected in 1929. However, this may be conflation with the fact that women's suffrage was introduced in 1929 (general elections were held in 1928 and 1932).

Ukraine & China/Taiwan edits

Regarding the addition of members of the Central Council of Ukraine, that body a post/mid-conflict non-elected body, and members of these types of legislatures are specifically excluded from this list, as noted at the top of the list. Several countries had these non-elected, transitional type of legislatures with female members before they had women elected to parliament (including Albania, France, Italy and a few others), but members of these bodies do not typically appear to be considered the first female MPs. Listing the post-independence members is also not appropriate; many countries in the list were colonies or part of another country at the time that they had their first female parliamentarians.

Re China/Taiwan, this revised listing is incorrect, as Taiwan was not part of China in 1928 (it was then under Japanese control); the first women representatives of Taiwan were only elected in 1948, following Taiwan's return to Chinese control at the end of WWII. Number 57 11:51, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

Right, I don't really care about China and Taiwan, but what you are saying about Ukraine is ridiculous. All the countries here list women who were members of their countries' own parliaments, whether they were independent or just provincial parliaments. It just happens so that the first independent national legislative body in Ukraine proper was established in times of war. What difference does it make? The Central Council functioned just as any parliament, it had plenary sessions, passed laws, etc. Bosch and Breshkovsky aren't even cosidered Ukrainian historical figures, because they weren't Ukrainian and didn't represent Ukrainian people or interests.--Extended Cut (talk) 12:16, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

Several of the countries in this list had their first female MP elected to the parliament of a country that they were part of at the time, including Algeria (France), Antigua (West Indies Federation), Bangladesh (Pakistan), the Czech Republic, Slovakia (Czechoslovakia) and Syria (United Arab Republic). If Scotland became an independent country, Katharine Stewart-Murray would still be the first Scottish woman MP.

As I said above, during the course of researching this list, the women who were members of these temporary legislatures did not seem to be considered the first female MPs, hence why I excluded them. Perhaps a compromise could be to list the members of the Central Council in the notes column? Cheers, Number 57 12:27, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

Well then perhaps this article needs to list first female MPs in independent local legislatures as well. Honetsly, I think people would rather care more about those than some representatives of colonies or other possessions who weren't even native to those territories.--Extended Cut (talk) 12:36, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

This is done for several of those countries in the notes (e.g. Antigua, Syria), and the vast majority of the people listed for the countries mentioned above were native to the territories in question. Number 57 12:39, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

Not in case of Ukraine.--Extended Cut (talk) 12:42, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

I have added a note – feel free to improve the wording of it. Cheers, Number 57 12:46, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, that's better.--Extended Cut (talk) 18:06, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State

Sister Raffaella Petrini was appointed as a member, as president, no less. Does this make her the first woman in this legislature? Howard the Duck (talk) 19:06, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:List of elected and appointed female deputy heads of government which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 02:56, 10 May 2026 (UTC)