"of the United Methodist Church. College of West Africa The College of West Africa is a Methodist high school in Monrovia, Liberia. The school was opened in 1839 (as the ""Monrovia Seminary""), making it one of the oldest European-style schools in Africa. It has produced many of Liberia's leaders and includes among its alumni Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman elected as president in an African state, and Liberian Vice President Joseph Boakai. The College of West Africa's main building is named in memory of Melville B. Cox, a Methodist missionary from Edenton Street United Methodist Church, who"
"Sirleaf became the first democratically elected female Head of State in the history of the African Continent, and the first native female African Head of State since Empress Zauditu, who ruled Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930 and not including Queen Elizabeth II who reigned over many Commonwealth countries upon their independence and still reigns as Queen of the United Kingdom over the Atlantic African Islands and British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha . As no Senate existed prior to the elections, each voter was eligible to cast two ballots for different candidates. The two candidates"
"Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Born in Monrovia to a Gola father and Kru-German mother, Sirleaf was educated at the College of West Africa before moving to the United States, where she studied at Madison Business College and Harvard University. She returned to Liberia to work in William Tolbert's government as Deputy Minister of Finance from 1971 to 1974 and later went to work for the World Bank"
"many. Embet Ilen (c. 1801-1851) was a woman important in Eritrean politics.[19] Ellen Johnson SirleafEllen Johnson Sirleaf was Africa’s first woman president in Liberia. The Freedom and Right for Women in Africa to participate in Leadership and Electoral processes has differed by countries and even by ethnic groups with the same country. For example, in Nigeria, Women in Southern Nigeria had the Right to Vote as early as 1950 and contested for seats in the 1959 Nigerian Elections, whereas Women in Northern Nigeria could not vote or contest until 1976 . In Benin, enforcement of the law against rape, the"
"to power. She replaced Mulatu Teshome, who resigned in unclear circumstances, and Sahle-Work is expected to serve two six-year terms. Sahle-Work's appointment makes her Africa's only serving female head of state, and the first female Ethiopian head of state since Empress Zewditu. Sahle-Work Zewde Sahle-Work Zewde (; born 21 February 1950) is the current President of Ethiopia, the first woman to hold the office. A diplomat, she was elected president unanimously by members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly on 25 October 2018. Sahle-Work was previously a career diplomat, serving as Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to the"
"Zewditu Zewditu (also spelled as Zawditu or Zauditu, Zäwditu; ; 29 April 1876 – 2 April 1930) was Empress of Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930. The first female head of an internationally recognized state in Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the first Empress regnant of the Ethiopian Empire, her reign was noted for the reforms of her regent and designated heir Ras Tafari Makonnen (who succeeded her as Emperor Haile Selassie I), about which she was at best ambivalent and often stridently opposed, due to her staunch conservatism and strong religious devotion. She was also the last"
"served briefly as South Africa's acting president in 2005, when both President Thabo Mbeki and the Deputy President were outside the country. Furthermore, she was chosen by the cabinet to be the constitutional and official head of state in an interim capacity for 14 hours from 24 until 25 September 2008, between the resignation of Thabo Mbeki and the taking of office by Kgalema Motlanthe. She was the first and to date only woman to have held the post of President in South Africa and the first woman to be head of state of South Africa since Elizabeth II's reign"
"countries, such as in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkey. However, in Arabic-speaking countries no woman has ever been head of state, although many Arabs remarked on the presence of women such as Jehan Al Sadat, the wife of Anwar El Sadat in Egypt, and Wassila Bourguiba, the wife of Habib Bourguiba in Tunisia, who have strongly influenced their husbands in their dealings with matters of state. Many Arab countries allow women to vote in national elections. The first female Member of Parliament in the Arab world was Rawya Ateya, who was elected in Egypt in 1957. Some countries granted the female"
"Jeanne-Marie Ruth-Rolland Jeanne-Marie Ruth-Rolland (née Rolland) (17 June 1937 – 4 June 1995) was a Central African politician, social worker and teacher. She is regarded as the first female African presidential candidate. Ruth-Rolland began her career as the supervisor for the education system of the French territory of Ubangi-Shari in 1956 and the supervised the Central African Republic national education system following independence from France in 1960, continuing to teach until 1964. Following this she was employed as a social worker, helping street children, and as the head of army social services in the Central African Armed Forces, leaving the"
"Fathia Nkrumah Helena Ritz Fathia Nkrumah ( ) (22 February 1932 – 31 May 2007); born Fathia Halim Ritzk; ), was a coptic Egyptian and the First Lady of the newly independent Ghana as the wife of the Kwame Nkrumah, its first president. Fathia Nkrumah was born and brought up in Zeitoun, a district of Cairo to a Coptic Christian family. She was the third daughter of a civil servant who died early and Fathia was raised by her mother single-handedly after her husband's death. She was born Fathia Halim Ritzk in Zeitoun, Cairo, in 1932. Her father worked as"
"children. She was an avid diamond-collector and pursued this hobby in her later years. In her final years, Ruth-Rolland became ill and was evacuated to Paris, France, where she died, aged 58, in hospital on June 4, 1995. The cause of her death was not given. A memorial has been erected in Bakouma in her honor. Jeanne-Marie Ruth-Rolland Jeanne-Marie Ruth-Rolland (née Rolland) (17 June 1937 – 4 June 1995) was a Central African politician, social worker and teacher. She is regarded as the first female African presidential candidate. Ruth-Rolland began her career as the supervisor for the education system of"
"Catherine Samba-Panza Catherine Samba-Panza (born 26 June 1956) was interim President of the Central African Republic from 2014 to 2016. She was the first woman to hold the post of head of state in that country, as well as the eighth woman in Africa to do so. Prior to becoming head of state, she was Mayor of Bangui from 2013 to 2014. Samba-Panza was born in Fort Lamy, Chad, to a mother from the Central African Republic (CAR) and a Cameroonian father. Prior to politics, she was a businesswoman and corporate lawyer. She moved to the CAR at the age"
"Sahle-Work Zewde Sahle-Work Zewde (; born 21 February 1950) is the current President of Ethiopia, the first woman to hold the office. A diplomat, she was elected president unanimously by members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly on 25 October 2018. Sahle-Work was previously a career diplomat, serving as Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union at the level of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Born in Addis Ababa, Sahle-Work attended elementary and secondary school at Lycée Guebre-Mariam in Addis Ababa, after which she studied"
"Agathe Uwilingiyimana Agathe Uwilingiyimana (; 23 May 1953 – 7 April 1994), sometimes known as Madame Agathe, was a Rwandan political figure. She served as Prime Minister of Rwanda from 18 July 1993 until her assassination on 7 April 1994, during the opening stages of the Rwandan genocide. She was Rwanda's first and so far only female prime minister. Agathe Uwilingiyimana, one of the most influential women in Rwandan history, was born in 1953 in the village of Nyaruhengeri, some 140 km southeast of Kigali, Rwanda's capital city, to farming parents. Shortly after she was born the family emigrated from"
"State House and, following her ""lifelong request"", she was buried next to her husband at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. Her daughter, Samia Nkrumah was the CPP Member of Parliament for the Jomoro Constituency in the Western Region of Ghana,from January 7, 2009 to January 6, 2013. Fathia Nkrumah Helena Ritz Fathia Nkrumah ( ) (22 February 1932 – 31 May 2007); born Fathia Halim Ritzk; ), was a coptic Egyptian and the First Lady of the newly independent Ghana as the wife of the Kwame Nkrumah, its first president. Fathia Nkrumah was born and brought up in Zeitoun, a"
"Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson Brigitte Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson (born 26 December 1958) is a Togolese politician, lawyer and human rights activist, and the first woman to stand as a candidate in a presidential election in her country. Adjamagbo-Johnson was born on 26 December 1958 in Bassar, Togo, the daughter of Cornélie, a midwife, and Paul Adjamagbo, a physician. Adjamagbo-Johnson earned a master's degree in law in 1983 from the University of Lomé, followed by a DEA in private law at the University of Paris V, Malakoff, and a second DEA in private law and comparative law, African rights option and a PhD in"
"Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (, ; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan stateswoman. She became the world's first non-hereditary female head of state or government in modern history, when she was elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She served three terms: 1960–1965, 1970–1977 and 1994–2000. Born into an aristocratic Kandyan family, Bandaranaike was educated in Catholic, English-medium schools, but remained a Buddhist and spoke Sinhala as well as English. On graduating from secondary school, she worked for various social programmes before marrying and raising a family."
"to the committee charged with drafting the constitution of the Sudanese Republic (an early name for Mali). Mali gained its independence in 1960. That year, she was the only woman elected to the new National Assembly and the only woman within the party leadership. She also served as secretary-general of the Commission Sociale des Femmes upon its establishment in 1962. In the 1960s, however, she was pushed out of power in the increasingly radicalised RDA by a longtime rival, Mariam Keïta, the senior wife of the first President of Mali, Modibo Keïta. In 1966, she gave up her midwife duties."
"The present Danish government is a coalition between the Social Democrats, the Social-Liberal Party and the Socialist People's Party. All three parties have female leaders. Helle Thorning-Schmidt is Prime Minister. The world's first elected female president was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland, whose term lasted from 1980 to 1996. In 2005, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia became Africa's first elected female head of state. It was not until World War I and the first socialist revolutions that the first few women became members of governments. Alexandra Kollontai became the first female to hold a minister position, as the People's Commissar for"
"indicating a victory for the incumbent Sandinista President Ortega, Chamorro won the election on 25 February 1990, becoming the first elected female head of state in the Americas. When Chamorro was sworn into office on 25 April 1990, it was the first time in more than five decades that a peaceful transition of power had occurred in Nicaragua and the first time that one elected president had given way to another. She inherited a hyperinflated, war-torn economy, but she was able to end the war and establish a lasting peace. Chamorro's leadership covered six difficult years marked by economic strife"
"first when her husband became Head of State briefly in 1979. He returned to power in 1981 and was in charge until 2001. She has been the president of the 31st December Women's Movement in 1982. She was elected First Vice Chairperson of her party in 2009 during the second term of her National Democratic Congress (NDC) party's tenure in office under President John Atta Mills. She unsuccessfully challenged Atta Mills for the party's flagbearership position at the party's congress in 2001. University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, degree; advanced courses in London, England; Johns Hopkins University, Institute for"
"Africa. Mbete, as Speaker of Parliament, accepted Mbeki's resignation on 21 September. It had been speculated that Mbete would succeed Mbeki as President, which would have made her the first female head of state in South Africa's history; however, the ANC announced that Kgalema Motlanthe, Deputy President of the ANC, would assume that position. On 23 September, Mbete was announced by the SABC as the most likely candidate for Deputy President of South Africa following Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's resignation from the position. On 25 September 2008, she was appointed by Motlanthe as Deputy President. On 10 May 2009 she was replaced"
"Jacqueline Oble Anne Jacqueline Oble (born 1950) also known as Jacqueline Lohoues-Oble is an Ivorian lawyer and politician who was the first woman to stand as a candidate in a presidential election. Anne Jacqueline Lohoues was born in Dabou in 1950, one of eleven children. She has a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Abidjan-Cocody (1975), a master's degree in Private Law from the University of Paris II (1977) and a PhD from Jean Moulin University (1982). Oble is a lawyer and was the first law professor in sub-Saharan Africa at Abidjan Law School and served as dean"
"States (Barack Obama was elected president in 2009, becoming the first African-American to hold that office), France (Nicolas Sarkozy, a president of France of Hungarian descent), Germany (Angela Merkel, the first female leader of that nation), and Australia (Julia Gillard, also the first female leader of that nation). Following 1991, Western nations provided troops and aid to many war-torn areas of the world. Some of these missions were unsuccessful, like the attempt by the United States to provide relief in Somalia in the early 1990s. A very successful peace-making operation was conducted in the Balkans in the late 1990s, however."
"parliamentary body. In 2012, she was elected to serve as the chair of the African Parliamentary Union (APU) through 2015. Rose Mukantabana Rose Mukantabana (born 31 August 1961) is a lawyer and women's rights activist. She is the former President of the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda and was the first woman elected to the post. She was elected to serve as chair of the African Parliamentary Union from 2013-2015. Rose Mukantabana was born 31 August 1961 in Nyanza District, Southern Province, Rwanda. She graduated from high school and began working in the civil service in 1980, first in the"
"Lidia Gueiler Tejada Lidia Gueiler Tejada (28 August 1921 – 9 May 2011) was the first female President of Bolivia, serving in an interim capacity from 1979 to 1980. She was Bolivia's first and only female Head of State, and the second in American history (the first was Isabel Perón in Argentina between 1974 and 1976). Gueiler was born in Cochabamba, to Moisés Gueiler Grunewelt, a German immigrant and a Bolivian mother, Raquel Tejada Albornoz. She received a BA degree from Instituto Americano in Cochabamba. In the 1940s, she joined the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR). When that party came to"
"president. Her husband led a military coup that seized power in 1981, although he was not established as head of state until the following year. The country successfully reverted to civilian rule in 1992 and held free elections. Calling the first lady ""an instrumental part of the revolution in Ghana's economy,"" the Baltimore Afro-American reported that women were Ghana's largest labor force, and they wanted to be a central part of the country's redevelopment. ""Before December 31, 1981, they had no power of influence in law or politics--even the laws that pertained to them."" It was a grassroots movement, with"
"Mary Antoinette Brown-Sherman Mary Antoinette Brown Sherman (October 27, 1926 – June 3, 2004) was a Liberian educator, and the first woman to serve as president of a university in Africa. Mary Antoinette Hope Grimes was born in Monrovia, the daughter of Louis Arthur Grimes and Victoria Elizabeth Jellemoh. Her father was a government official who became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia. Her brother Joseph Rudolph Grimes was Liberia's Secretary of State from 1960 to 1972. Her mother was from the Vai ethnic group, and was raised in the household of Joseph J. Cheeseman, the twelfth president"
"In addition to helping bring an end to 14 years of warfare in Liberia, this women's movement led to the 2005 election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president of Liberia, the first elected woman leader of a country in Africa. Sirleaf is co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize along with Gbowee and Tawakel Karman. The three were awarded the prize ""for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work."" In Sirleaf's re-election campaign of 2011, Gbowee endorsed her. Recognizable when wearing their white WIPNET T-shirts, Gbowee and the other"
"Rose Mukantabana Rose Mukantabana (born 31 August 1961) is a lawyer and women's rights activist. She is the former President of the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda and was the first woman elected to the post. She was elected to serve as chair of the African Parliamentary Union from 2013-2015. Rose Mukantabana was born 31 August 1961 in Nyanza District, Southern Province, Rwanda. She graduated from high school and began working in the civil service in 1980, first in the Rwanda Society for Insurance and later in the Ministry of Public Services. In 1992, she entered the National University of"
"member of the editorial board of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Rosalía Arteaga Rosalía Arteaga Serrano (born December 5, 1956) is an Ecuadorian politician who served as the country's first female head of state as acting president for a few days in 1997. She was born in Cuenca, Ecuador. She became Vice President in 1996, following the election of Abdalá Bucaram as President. On February 6, 1997, however, President Bucaram was declared unfit to govern by Congress. Arteaga and congressional leader Fabián Alarcón became locked in a dispute over who should succeed Bucaram since the constitution was vague on the issue. Initially,"
"Rose Francine Rogombé Rose Francine Rogombé (""née"" Etomba) (20 September 1942 – 10 April 2015) was a Gabonese politician who was Acting President of Gabon from June 2009 to October 2009, following the death of long-time President Omar Bongo. She constitutionally succeeded Bongo due to her role as President of the Senate, a post to which she was elected in February 2009. She was a lawyer by profession and a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG). Rogombé was the first female head of state of Gabon. After her interim presidency, she returned to her post as President of the"
"country's first female vice-president. She was a Member of Parliament and Minister for Gender, Children's Affairs and Community Services. Before her active career in politics she was the founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation, founder of the National Association of Business Women (NABW), Young Women Leaders Network and the Hunger Project. In 2014, Forbes named President Banda as the 40th most powerful woman in the world and the most powerful woman in Africa. In November 2016, Banda announced she that she was willing to stand as a presidential candidate in the 2019 elections. Joyce Hilda Ntila was born on 12"