Agatha Barbara

Agatha Barbara

Agatha Barbara (born March 11, 1923 in Żabbar ; † February 4, 2002 ) was a Maltese politician and President of Malta from 1982 to 1987.

MPs

Agatha Barbara initially worked as a teacher. After joining the Labor Party in 1946, she ran for parliamentary elections in 1947.

From October 25, 1947 to February 16, 1982, she was the first female member of the House of Representatives and the only woman to be re-elected in subsequent elections. In the following years she was also the representative of the LP at international meetings and conferences.

Minister

In the first government of Dom Mintoff from March 11, 1955 until the beginning of the constitutional crisis on April 26, 1958, she was Minister of Education. In this office she campaigned for the permanent introduction of compulsory schooling. Hundreds of teachers were hired and trained during this campaign. During the constitutional crisis she was arrested for her repeated criticism of the influence of the colonial power Great Britain and for calling a strike and sentenced to 43 days in prison.

She again held the office of Minister of Education in Mintoff's second cabinet from June 21, 1971 to September 30, 1974. Mintoff appointed Agatha Barbara to his third cabinet on September 30, 1974 as Minister of Labor, Culture and Welfare. During this time she was temporarily acting Prime Minister as representative of Mintoff.

President of Malta

After several ballots and a three-month interim presidency of Albert Hyzler , Agatha Barbara was elected the first woman in the presidency of Malta on February 16, 1982. She held this office until the end of the five-year constitutional term on February 15, 1987.

literature

• Agatha Barbara , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 25/1988 of June 13, 1988, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Web links

• Biography on the homepage of the Maltese government
• Biography in rulers.org
• List of members of the Maltese Parliament