Can someone help me name all the female heads of state in the modern era?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

England: Margaret Thatcher
India: Indira Gandhi
Germany : Chancellor Angela Merkel
Israel: Golda Meir

I'm pretty sure there are at least a few more I'm missing, please help me out?

[MonkeyFunk]

1. Here's a full list

sorry for the formatting. It's readable here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women_heads_of_state

Note; These are heads of state, not necessarily heads of government.


Name Country Name of post Mandate start Mandate end
Khertek Anchimaa-Toka Tuva Chairman of the Presidium of the Little Khural 1940 1944-10-11
Sühbaataryn Yanjmaa Mongolia Acting Chairman of the Presidium 1953-09-23 1954-07-07
Isabel Martínez de Perón Argentina President 1974-07-01 1976-03-24
Lidia Gueiler Bolivia Interim President 1979-11-17 1980-07-18
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Iceland President 1980-08-01 1996-08-01
Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini San Marino Captain Regent 1981-04-01 1981-10-01
Agatha Barbara Malta President 1982-02-15 1987-02-15
Gloriana Ranocchini (1st term) San Marino Captain Regent 1984-04-01 1984-10-01
Carmen Pereira Guinea-Bissau Acting President 1984-05-14 1984-05-16
Elisabeth Kopp Switzerland Member of the Federal Council 1984-10-20 1989-01-12
Corazon Aquino Philippines President 1986-02-25 1992-06-30
Gloriana Ranocchini (2nd term) San Marino Captain Regent 1989-10-01 1990-04-01
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot Haiti Interim President 1990-03-13 1991-02-07
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl East Germany Chairman of the Volkskammer 1990-04-05 1990-10-02
Violeta Chamorro Nicaragua President 1990-04-25 1997-01-10
Mary Robinson Ireland President 1990-12-03 1997-09-12
Edda Ceccoli San Marino Captain Regent 1991-10-01 1992-04-01
Ruth Dreifuss Switzerland Member of the Federal Council 1993-04-01 2002-12-31
Patricia Busignani San Marino Captain Regent 1993-04-01 1993-10-01
Sylvie Kinigi Burundi Acting President 1993-10-27 1994-02-05
Chandrika Kumaratunga Sri Lanka President 1994-11-12 2005-11-19
Ruth Perry Liberia Chairman of the Council of State 1996-09-03 1997-08-02
Rosalía Arteaga Serrano Ecuador Caretaker President 1997-09-02 1997-02-11
Mary McAleese Ireland President 1997-11-11 present
Janet Jagan Guyana President 1997-12-19 1999-08-11
Rosa Zafferani San Marino Captain Regent 1999-04-01 1999-10-01
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga Latvia President 1999-07-08 present
Mireya Moscoso Panama President 1999-09-01 2004-09-01
Tarja Halonen Finland President 2000-03-01 present
Maria Domenica Michelotti San Marino Captain Regent 2000-04-01 2000-10-01
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Philippines President 2001-01-20 present
Megawati Sukarnoputri Indonesia President 2001-07-23 2004-10-20
Nataša Mićić Serbia President 2002-12-30 2004
Micheline Calmy-Rey Switzerland Member of the Federal Council 2003-01-01 present
Valeria Ciavatta San Marino Captain Regent 2003-10-01 2004-04-01
Nino Burjanadze Georgia Acting President 2003-11-23 2004-01-25
Fausta Morganti San Marino Captain Regent 2005-04-01 2005-10-01
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Liberia President 2006-01-16 present
Michelle Bachelet Chile President 2006-03-11 present
Dalia Itzik Israel Acting President 2007-01-25 present

[Captain Hilts]

6. The PM of Iceland was/is a woman. Don't know her name. nt

[MonkeyFunk]

8. No

Iceland has never had a female prime minister, but Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was President from 1980 - 1996

[Captain Hilts]

12. Okay, I got PM and Pres of Iceland confused. So shoot me. nt

[MonkeyFunk]

13. sorry

I wasn't attacking you.

I was more pointing out the flaw in the original question as asked. It asked about female heads of state.

By that criterion, Margaret Thatcher doesn't count, but Queen Elizabeth does (as the head of state of 16 countries).

[Captain Hilts]

26. My standards aren't that high. I'll accept heads of state too. Sad, but true. nt

[Warpy]

10. You forgot Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan

two terms, 1988-1990 and 1993-1996

Everybody forgets Benazir Bhutto for some reason, probably because she is not a lady. She is a fighter.

[MonkeyFunk]

14. I did not forget Benazir Bhutto

She was the head of government, not head of state. Pakistan has a President who serves as head of state.

[ronnykmarshall]

2. Cory Aquino and Gloria Arroyo - Philippines

Isabella Peron - Argentina

[patricia92243]

3. Afraid I can't help, but it is interesting to note that other countries have had female leaders whil...

while we are still whining "Is USA ready for a female President."


We are SUPPOSED to be way ahead of India, etc in our attitude toward women. Doesn't seem like we really are.

[NMDemDist2]

4. the new lady President of Liberia

I don't remember her name though :shrug:

[Captain Hilts]

7. 'Lady'? nt

[Missy M]

5. Benazir Bhutto - Pakistan

[OneBlueSky]

9. TV Land: Oprah . . . n/t

.

[cloudbase]

11. Self delete

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Ireland had a female prez, but I believe that is a figurehead position

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. If you do mean 'heads of government'

since all those you mention were/are that, not 'elected or appointed heads of state', then Wikipedia has a non-exhaustive category: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Female_heads_of_government

[LeftishBrit]

21. Great link; a couple of omissions

Helen Clark is the Prime Minister of New Zealand; and Edith Cresson served briefly as the Prime Minister of France from 1991-1992.

[salin]

22. Also former Prime Minister of Norway - Gro Harlem Brundtland

http://www.answers.com/topic/gro-harlem-brundtland

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Cresson was already there; so was Brundtland

but I've just added Clark. :)

[Jade Fox]

17. This contains some info....

on that topic, and it's a great read too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elayne-boosler/is-america-ready-for-a-w_b_40300.html

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

19. Great article, thanks!

[enid602]

18. Argentina

Isabel Peron

[malaise]

20. Here are some

Eugenia Charles (now-deceased Dominica)
Janet Jagan (Guyana - she became President after her husband died - American by the way)
Portia Simpson (Jamaica)
The leader of the main Opposition Party in Trinidad and Tobago is Kamla Bissesar-Persaud.

Some more here
http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=5908

[Canuckistanian]

23. Canada - Kim Campbell in 1993

For about 20 minutes.

[PerfectSage]

25. Kim Campell was Prime Minister of Canada

from June to Nov 1993