Ella Grasso

Ella Grasso (May 10, 1919 – February 5, 1981) was an American politician.

Born Ella Giovanna Oliva Tambussi in Windsor Locks, Connecticut to Italian immigrant parents, she was the first woman to be elected governor of any U.S. state in her own right, rather than by succeeding a deceased husband or acting as his surrogate.

After attending St. Mary's School in Windsor Locks, and then the Chaffee School in Windsor, Grasso went on to Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she was awarded her BA in 1940 and her MA in 1942. After graduation, she served as assistant director of research for the War Manpower Commission of Connecticut.

In 1942, she married Thomas Grasso. The couple had two children, Susanne and James.

In 1952, Grasso was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives, and served until 1957. She became first woman to be elected Floor Leader of the House in 1955. In 1958 she was elected Secretary of the State of Connecticut and was re-elected in 1962 and 1966. She was the first woman to chair the Democratic State Platform Committee and served from 1956 to 1968. She served as a member of the Platform Drafting Committee for the 1960 Democratic National Convention. She was the co-chairperson for the Resolutions Committee for the Democratic National Conventions of 1964 and 1968. In 1970 she was elected as a Democratic representative to the 92nd Congress, and won reelection in 1972.

In 1974 Grasso did not run for reelection to Congress, instead running for the Connecticut governorship, and won. She began her first term in 1975 and was elected to a second term in 1978.

On December 31, 1980, Grasso resigned her office due to her ovarian cancer, and died of it several weeks later on February 5, 1981, at the age of 61.

Later that year, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Women's Hall of Fame inducted her in 1993.

External links

• Mount Holyoke biography
• Brief biography
• Bartleby biography
• Ella T. Grasso Papers at Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections
• Papers Of Connecticut's First Woman Governor Now Available

Preceded by: Thomas Meskill (Republican)

Governor of Connecticut 1975 - 1980

Succeeded by: William A. O'Neill (Democrat)