Elisabeth Kopp, Swiss Politician Who Made History, Dies at 86

THE NEW YORK TIMES: In 1984 she became the first woman elected to the country’s governing council, but a scandal prevented her from being the first woman to serve as president.

Elisabeth Kopp being sworn in as the first female member of the Federal Council, Switzerland’s governing body, in 1984. Her political foes had tried to deny her a seat by stirring up dirt about husband. | Keystone, via Associated Press
Elisabeth Kopp, who in 1984 overcame accusations involving her husband to become the first woman elected to Switzerland’s governing Federal Council — but who could not overcome another scandal a few years later, also related to her husband, and resigned when she had seemed likely to be the country’s first female president — died on April 7 in Zumikon, southeast of Zurich. She was 86. » | Neil Genzlinger | Saturday, April 22, 2023