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Amélia Christinat

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Amélia Christinat
Amélia Christinat in 1986.
Member of the National Council of Switzerland
In office
January 16, 1978 – November 29, 1987
Member of the Grand Council of Geneva
In office
November 1969 – March 1980
Personal details
Born(1926-02-06)6 February 1926
Corticiasca, Ticino
DiedSeptember 7, 2016(2016-09-07) (aged 90)
Geneva
NationalitySwiss
Political partySocial Democratic Party of Switzerland
OccupationWorker
Women's rights activist

Amélia Christinat (6 February 1926 at Corticiasca, Ticino – 7 September 2016 in Geneva) was a Swiss politician and women's rights activist.[1][2] She sat in the National Council from 1978 to 1987 as the first female National Councillor from the canton of Geneva.

Life

Amélia Christinat was born in 1926 at Corticiasca, Ticino[3] in southeastern Switzerland, into a poor family.[2] She was the daughter of boilermaker Eugenio Petrall and of mountain farmer Maria-Maddalena Minuzzi.[4] She was trained as a dressmaker at the vocational school of Lugano. She subsequently worked at Tavaro SA and later as a civil servant at the post cheque office.[2]

In October 1949, she married Emile Christinat, a post administrator who was 17 years older than her. Their daughter Nadia was born in 1955. Emile died in 1994.[2]

Amélia Christinat died from a stroke on September 7, 2016[5][6] in Geneva.

Political career

Amélia first campaigned as a trade unionist and as a suffragist. After women's suffrage was introduced in the canton of Geneva in March 1960, Christinat joined the Social Democratic Party of Geneva.[2] She took part to the establishment of the Fédération romande des consommatrices (French-Swiss Consumers' Federation) alongside former syndic of Lausanne Yvette Jaggi[2] to promote the importance of the social and economic role of housewives.[4]

In 1978, she became the first female National Councillor from Geneva, representing the Social Democratic Party.[2] She campaigned for maternity insurance and for a better representation of women in the Federal Assembly.[7] She was nicknamed "la pasionaria" because of her passion.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "La féministe socialiste genevoise Amélia Christinat s'est éteinte à 90 ans" (in French). RTSR. September 7, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bézaguet, Laurence (February 8, 2016). "La pasionaria Amélia Christinat fête ses 90 ans". La Tribune de Genève (in French). Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  3. ^ "Christinat, Amélia". Base de données des élites suisses au XXe s. (in French). Observatoire des élites suisses. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Liliane Mottu-Weber: Amélia Christinat in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, September 27, 2016.
  5. ^ "Amélia Christinat, disparition d'une figure du PS genevois". Le Temps (in French). September 7, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  6. ^ Budry, Eric (September 8, 2016). "Figure du PS, Amélia Christinat est décédée mercredi". 24 Heures (in French). Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  7. ^ "Die SP Schweiz nimmt Abschied von zwei grossen Frauenrechtlerinnen: Lilian Uchtenhagen und Amélia Christinat" (in German). Social Democratic Party of Switzerland. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  8. ^ "Amélia Christinat s'est éteinte à 90 ans". 20 Minutes (in French). Retrieved November 7, 2019.