- The first female federal judge in Switzerland is dead.
- The St. Gallen lawyer Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger died on Monday at the age of 89, as her family announced in obituaries on Saturday.
Bigler-Eggenberger, born in Uzwil in the canton of St. Gallen, was elected the first substitute judge in 1972 at the age of 39 as a member of the SP, and in 1974 she was the first woman to be elected federal judge. For 20 years she served in the second civil division of the Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne.
The lawyer, lecturer and publicist was an expert on social security law and the position of women. Among other things, she was committed to equal opportunities and equal rights.
Irregularities during the application
Bigler-Eggenberger made it into the federal court in 1972, just a year after the introduction of women’s suffrage. Irregularities had occurred before her election because parts of her application dossier were not submitted to Parliament. These showed the then St. Gallen insurance judge as an intern and housewife.
Legend:
The entry of the St. Gallen lawyer at the Federal Supreme Court was not easy.
key stone
Many wanted to prevent the election of a woman into this male domain. “The beginning at the federal court was not easy. There were colleagues who even refused to speak to me, »she once said in an interview.
There were colleagues in federal court who refused to speak to me.
Bigler-Eggenberger remained the only female federal judge in Switzerland for 17 years. In 1977 she was involved, among other things, in the first equal pay process in Switzerland. She resigned in 1994, but remained a part-time federal judge for two more years.
Legend:
Even in retirement, the former federal judge continued to advocate for equality.
Keystone/Christian Beutler
Bigler-Eggenberger continued to work as a journalist after her resignation and published, among other things, a standard work on questions of actual inequality between women and men.
In 1994 and 2003, the HSG and the University of Friborg awarded the administrative board member of the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund and board member of Pro Helvetia honorary doctorates.