List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government


The following is a list of women who have been elected head of state or government of their respective countries since the interwar period, and below that is a list of appointed heads of state. The first list includes female presidents who are heads of state and may also be heads of government, as well as female heads of government who are not concurrently head of state, such as prime ministers. The list does not include female monarchs who are head of state..
Yevgenia Bosch is sometimes considered the first modern woman leader of a national government. She was Minister of Interior and the Acting Leader in 1917-18 of the People's Secretariat of Ukraine, one of a number of competing ruling bodies in the Ukrainian People's Republic. Khertek Anchimaa-Toka, of the mostly unrecognized and now-defunct Tuvan People's Republic, is regarded as "first ever elected woman head of state in the world". She became the chair of the country's presidium in 1940.
The first woman to be democratically elected as prime minister of a country was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon, when she led her party to victory at the 1960 general election. The first woman to serve as president of a country was Isabel Martínez de Perón of Argentina, who as vice-president succeeded to the presidency in 1974 after the death of her husband. The first woman elected president of a country was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland, who won the 1980 presidential election as well as three others to also become the longest-serving non-hereditary female head of state in history.
Also included in the first list are twelve women who have held an office styled either as Prime Minister or State Counsellor, during periods when the country had an executive presidency, and the Prime Minister was not legally and constitutionally the head of government, but rather a deputy to the president who was the combined head of state and head of government. These countries are the Central African Republic, Guyana, Sri Lanka, Namibia, South Korea, Peru, and Myanmar. Such leaders are marked by an asterisk.

Elected or appointed female chief executives

This list includes women who were appointed by a governing committee or parliament where heads of state or government are not directly elected by citizens. The list does not include women chosen by a hereditary monarch.
Incumbent
Acting capacity only

Female members of collective head-of-state bodies


NamePortraitCountryOfficeMandate startMandate endTerm lengthHead of state or government
Nadezhda KrupskayaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Klavdia NikolaevaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Anna PankratovaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Yekaterina FurtsevaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Yodgor NasriddinovaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Luise ErmischMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Irmgard NeumannMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Tursunoy AkhundovaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Lieselott HerforthMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Else MerkeMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Brunhilde HankeMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Anni NeumannMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Zoya PukhovaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Maria SchneiderMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Margarete MüllerMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Ilse ThieleMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Rosel WaltherMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Valentina TereshkovaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietJune 1974March or April 1989c. 14 yearsMember of the collective head of state
Rimma GavrilovaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Kamshat DonenbaevaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Yekaterina MukhinaMember of the Presidium of the Supreme SovietMember of the collective head of state
Violeta ChamorroMember of the Junta of National ReconstructionMember of the collective head of state and government
Maria Lea Pedini-AngeliniCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Johanna TöpferMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Gloriana RanocchiniCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Elisabeth KoppMember of the Swiss Federal CouncilMember of the collective head of state and government
Monika WernerMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Eveline KlettMember of the State CouncilMember of the collective head of state
Gloriana RanocchiniCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Edda CeccoliCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Biljana Plavšić Bosnia and HerzegovinaSerb Member of the PresidencyMember of the collective head of state
Tatjana Ljujić-MijatovićSerb Member of the PresidencyMember of the collective head of state
Ruth DreifussMember of the Swiss Federal CouncilMember of the collective head of state and government
Patrizia BusignaniCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Ruth MetzlerMember of the Swiss Federal CouncilMember of the collective head of state and government
Rosa ZafferaniCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Maria Domenica MichelottiCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Micheline Calmy-ReyMember of the Swiss Federal CouncilMember of the collective head of state and government
Valeria CiavattaCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Fausta MorgantiCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Doris LeuthardMember of the Swiss Federal CouncilMember of the collective head of state and government
Eveline Widmer-SchlumpfMember of the Swiss Federal CouncilMember of the collective head of state and government
Rosa ZafferaniCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Assunta MeloniCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Simonetta SommarugaMember of the Swiss Federal CouncilIncumbentMember of the collective head of state and government
Maria Luisa BertiCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Denise BronzettiCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Antonella MularoniCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Anna Maria MuccioliCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Valeria CiavattaCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Lorella StefanelliCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Mimma ZavoliCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Vanessa D'AmbrosioCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Karin Keller-SutterMember of the Swiss Federal CouncilIncumbentMember of the collective head of state and government
Viola AmherdMember of the Swiss Federal CouncilIncumbentMember of the collective head of state and government
Aisha Musa el-SaidMember of the Sovereignty CouncilIncumbentMember of the collective head of state
Raja NicolaMember of the Sovereignty CouncilIncumbentMember of the collective head of state
Mariella MularoniCaptain RegentMember of the collective head of state and government
Grazia ZafferaniCaptain RegentIncumbentMember of the collective head of state and government

Female viceregal representatives

Below are women who have been appointed representatives of heads of state, such as female governors-general and French representatives of Andorra. As governors-general are appointed representatives of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms and the French Representatives of Andorra are appointed representatives of the French Co-Prince of Andorra, they act as heads of state and carry out on a regular basis the functions and duties associated with such a role in the Commonwealth realms and Andorra, respectively.

NamePortraitCountryOfficeMandate startMandate endTerm lengthHead of state or government
Dame Elmira Minita GordonGovernor-GeneralHead of state
Jeanne SauvéGovernor GeneralHead of state
Dame Nita BarrowGovernor-GeneralHead of state
Dame Catherine TizardGovernor-GeneralHead of state
Dame Pearlette LouisyGovernor-GeneralHead of state
Adrienne ClarksonGovernor GeneralHead of state
Dame Sian Elias'Administrator of the Government '''Head of state
Dame Silvia CartwrightGovernor-GeneralHead of state
Dame Ivy DumontGovernor-GeneralHead of state
Monica Dacon'Acting Governor-General'''Head of state
Michaëlle JeanGovernor GeneralHead of state
Dame Sian Elias'Administrator of the Government '''Head of state
Emmanuelle MignonRepresentative of the French Co-PrinceHead of state
Dame Louise Lake-TackGovernor-GeneralHead of state
Dame Quentin BryceGovernor-GeneralHead of state
Dame Sian Elias'Administrator of the Government '''Head of state
Sylvie HubacRepresentative of the French Co-PrinceHead of state
Sandra Mason'Acting Governor-General'''Head of state
Dame Cécile La GrenadeGovernor-GeneralIncumbentHead of state
Dame Marguerite PindlingGovernor-GeneralQueen's representative
Dame Sian Elias'Administrator of the Government '''Head of state
Dame Patsy ReddyGovernor-GeneralIncumbentQueen's representative
Julie PayetteGovernor GeneralIncumbentQueen's representative
Dame Sandra MasonGovernor-GeneralIncumbentHead of state
Dame Susan DouganGovernor-GeneralIncumbentHead of state