Monique Bauer-Lagier
Monique Bauer-Lagier was a politician 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.Life
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.
She underwent a classical education and passed her school leaving exams 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 in Geneva. After this she worked for eight years as a teacher. Her political career started with her election in 1973 to the Geneva :fr:Parlement cantonal|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. She also became a member of the national committee of the Liberal Party.
She supported women's rights and was a strong advocate for the new :de:Eherecht |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.
She was chair of several organisations - a parliamentary group for refugees, the International Geneva Peace Institute, :de:Aids-Hilfe Schweiz|Swiss Aids Support, :de:Brot für alle|Bread for All and the International Union of Swiss language parliamentarians.Personal
She married Paul-A. Bauer, a physician. The couple had three children.
