List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government

This article is about female leaders of independent states. For constituent and dependent territories, see List of female constituent and dependent territory leaders.

400px

Map showing countries which currently have women as heads of state or government, counting governors-general but not monarchs. (Dependent territories are treated separately.)

400px

Map showing countries which since independence have had women as heads of state or government.

  Female head of government

  Female head of state

  Female head of state/government (combined)

  Female head of state and female head of government

  Female prime minister / state counselor acting as deputy to the combined head of state and government

• Three former sovereign states had a female head of state or government in the 20th century: East Germany, Tannu Tuva and Yugoslavia.

The following is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state or government of their respective countries since the interwar period (1918–1939). The first list includes female presidents who are heads of state and may also be heads of government, as well as female heads of government who are not concurrently head of state, such as prime ministers. The list does not include female monarchs who are heads of state (but not of government).

Khertek Anchimaa-Toka, of the mostly unrecognized and now defunct Tuvan People's Republic, is regarded as "first ever elected woman head of state in the world". She became the chair of the country's presidium in 1940.

The first woman to be democratically elected as prime minister of a country was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), when she led her party to victory at the 1960 general election. The first woman to serve as president of a country was Isabel Perón of Argentina, who as vice-president succeeded to the presidency in 1974 after the death of her husband. The first woman elected president of a country was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland, who won the 1980 presidential election as well as three later elections, to become the longest-serving non-hereditary female head of state in history (16 years and 0 days in office). The first democratically elected female Prime Minister of a Muslim majority country was Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan who was elected as Prime Minister in 1988 and later in 1993, making her the first democratically elected leader of any Muslim nation. Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan was also the first and one of the only two leaders of the world who gave birth to a child while serving in office, the other one being Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand. The longest serving female non-royal head of government and longest serving female leader of a country is Sheikh Hasina. She is the longest serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh, having served for a combined total of over 18 years. As of 21 December 2024, she is the world's longest serving elected female head of government.

Prime ministers of Namibia, Peru, and Uganda are included in the list of elected or appointed female deputy heads of government as they are neither heads of government, nor deputy heads of state due to the existence of the office of vice president in these countries; whereas prime ministers of South Korea are included in the lists of elected or appointed female deputy heads of state and government.

Elected or appointed female chief executives

This list includes women who were appointed by a governing committee or parliament where heads of state or government are not directly elected by citizens. The list does not include women chosen by a hereditary monarch.

  Incumbent

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Head of state or government	Executive or non-executive
Khertek Anchimaa-Toka		Tannu Tuva	Chairman of the Presidium of the Little Khural	6 April 1940	11 October 1944		Head of state
Sirimavo Bandaranaike	80px	Ceylon/ Sri Lanka	Prime Minister	21 July 1960	27 March 1965		Head of government	Executive
				29 May 1970	23 July 1977
				14 November 1994	9 August 2000
Indira Gandhi		India	Prime Minister	24 January 1966	24 April 1977		Head of government	Executive
				15 January 1980	31 October 1984 (assassinated)
Golda Meir		Israel	Prime Minister	17 March 1969	3 June 1974		Head of government	Executive
Isabel Perón	80px	Argentina	President	1 July 1974	24 March 1976		Head of state and government	Executive
Elisabeth Domitien	153x153px	Central African Republic	Prime Minister	2 January 1975	7 April 1976		Head of government
Margaret Thatcher		United Kingdom	Prime Minister	4 May 1979	28 November 1990		Head of government	Executive
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo	80px	Portugal	Prime Minister	1 August 1979	3 January 1980		Head of government	Executive
Eugenia Charles		Dominica	Prime Minister	21 July 1980	14 June 1995		Head of government	Executive
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir	80px	Iceland	President	1 August 1980	1 August 1996		Head of state
Gro Harlem Brundtland		Norway	Prime Minister	4 February 1981	14 October 1981		Head of government	Executive
				9 May 1986	16 October 1989
				3 November 1990	25 October 1996
Soong Ching-ling	80px	China	Honorary President	16 May 1981	28 May 1981		Head of state
Agatha Barbara		Malta	President	15 February 1982	15 February 1987		Head of state
Milka Planinc	80px	Yugoslavia	Prime Minister	16 May 1982	15 May 1986		Head of government	Executive
Corazon Aquino		Philippines	President	25 February 1986	30 June 1992		Head of state and government	Executive
Stella Sigcau		Transkei	Prime Minister	5 October 1987	30 December 1987		Head of government	Executive
Benazir Bhutto		Pakistan	Prime Minister	2 December 1988	6 July 1990		Head of government	Executive
				19 October 1993	5 November 1996
Kazimira Prunskienė	80px	Lithuania	Prime Minister	17 March 1990	10 January 1991		Head of government	Executive
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl		East Germany	President of the People's Chamber	5 April 1990	2 October 1990		Head of state
Violeta Chamorro		Nicaragua	President	25 April 1990	10 January 1997		Head of state and government	Executive
Mary Robinson	80px	Ireland	President	3 December 1990	12 September 1997		Head of state
Khaleda Zia		Bangladesh	Prime Minister	27 February 1991	30 March 1996		Head of government	Executive
				1 October 2001	29 October 2006
Édith Cresson		France	Prime Minister	15 May 1991	2 April 1992		Head of government
Hanna Suchocka		Poland	Prime Minister	11 July 1992	25 October 1993		Head of government
Tansu Çiller	80px	Turkey	Prime Minister	13 June 1993	6 March 1996		Head of government
Kim Campbell		Canada	Prime Minister	25 June 1993	4 November 1993		Head of government	Executive
Sylvie Kinigi	80px	Burundi	Prime Minister	10 July 1993	27 October 1993		Head of government
Agathe Uwilingiyimana		Rwanda	Prime Minister	18 July 1993	7 April 1994 (assassinated)		Head of government
Chandrika Kumaratunga		Sri Lanka	President	12 November 1994	19 November 2005		Head of state and government	Executive
Claudette Werleigh	80px	Haiti	Prime Minister	7 November 1995	27 February 1996		Head of government
Sheikh Hasina		Bangladesh	Prime Minister	12 June 1996	15 July 2001		Head of government	Executive
				6 January 2009	Incumbent
Ruth Perry		Liberia	Chairwoman of the Council of State	3 September 1996	2 August 1997		Head of state and government	Executive
Mary McAleese		Ireland	President	11 November 1997	10 November 2011		Head of state
Jenny Shipley	80px	New Zealand	Prime Minister	8 December 1997	10 December 1999		Head of government	Executive
Janet Jagan		Guyana	President	19 December 1997	11 August 1999		Head of state and government	Executive
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga		Latvia	President	8 July 1999	8 July 2007		Head of state
Mireya Moscoso		Panama	President	1 September 1999	1 September 2004		Head of state and government	Executive
Helen Clark		New Zealand	Prime Minister	10 December 1999	19 November 2008		Head of government	Executive
Tarja Halonen		Finland	President	1 March 2000	1 March 2012		Head of state
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo		Philippines	President	20 January 2001	30 June 2010		Head of state and government	Executive
Mame Madior Boye		Senegal	Prime Minister	3 March 2001	4 November 2002		Head of government	Executive
Megawati Sukarnoputri		Indonesia	President	23 July 2001	20 October 2004		Head of state and government	Executive
Maria das Neves	80px	São Tomé and Príncipe	Prime Minister	3 October 2002	18 September 2004		Head of government
Anneli Jäätteenmäki		Finland	Prime Minister	17 April 2003	24 June 2003		Head of government	Executive
Yulia Tymoshenko		Ukraine	Prime Minister	24 January 2005	6 September 2005		Head of government	Executive
				18 December 2007	3 March 2010
Maria do Carmo Silveira	80px	São Tomé and Príncipe	Prime Minister	8 June 2005	21 April 2006		Head of government
Angela Merkel	80px	Germany	Chancellor	22 November 2005	8 December 2021		Head of government	Executive
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf		Liberia	President	16 January 2006	22 January 2018		Head of state and government	Executive
Michelle Bachelet		Chile	President	11 March 2006	11 March 2010		Head of state and government	Executive
				11 March 2014	11 March 2018
Portia Simpson-Miller		Jamaica	Prime Minister	30 March 2006	11 September 2007		Head of government	Executive
				5 January 2012	3 March 2016
Pratibha Patil		India	President	25 July 2007	25 July 2012		Head of state
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner		Argentina	President	10 December 2007	9 December 2015		Head of state and government	Executive
Zinaida Greceanîi		Moldova	Prime Minister	31 March 2008	14 September 2009		Head of government	Executive
Michèle Pierre-Louis	80px	Haiti	Prime Minister	5 September 2008	11 November 2009		Head of government
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir	80px	Iceland	Prime Minister	1 February 2009	23 May 2013		Head of government	Executive
Jadranka Kosor		Croatia	Prime Minister	6 July 2009	23 December 2011		Head of government	Executive
Dalia Grybauskaitė		Lithuania	President	12 July 2009	12 July 2019		Head of state
Roza Otunbayeva	80px	Kyrgyzstan	President	7 April 2010	1 December 2011		Head of state
Laura Chinchilla	80px	Costa Rica	President	8 May 2010	8 May 2014		Head of state and government	Executive
Kamla Persad-Bissessar		Trinidad and Tobago	Prime Minister	26 May 2010	9 September 2015		Head of government	Executive
Mari Kiviniemi	80px	Finland	Prime Minister	22 June 2010	22 June 2011		Head of government	Executive
Julia Gillard		Australia	Prime Minister	24 June 2010	27 June 2013		Head of government	Executive
Iveta Radičová		Slovakia	Prime Minister	8 July 2010	4 April 2012		Head of government	Executive
Dilma Rousseff		Brazil	President	1 January 2011	31 August 2016 Suspended 12 May 2016		Head of state and government	Executive
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé		Mali	Prime Minister	3 April 2011	22 March 2012		Head of government
Atifete Jahjaga		Kosovo	President	7 April 2011	7 April 2016		Head of state
Yingluck Shinawatra		Thailand	Prime Minister	3 July 2011	7 May 2014		Head of government	Executive
Helle Thorning-Schmidt		Denmark	Prime Minister	3 October 2011	28 June 2015		Head of government	Executive
Joyce Banda	80px	Malawi	President	7 April 2012	31 May 2014		Head of state and government	Executive
Park Geun-hye	80px	South Korea	President	25 February 2013	10 March 2017 Suspended 9 December 2016		Head of state and government	Executive
Alenka Bratušek		Slovenia	Prime Minister	20 March 2013	18 September 2014		Head of government	Executive
Tatiana Turanskaya		Transnistria	Prime Minister	10 June 2013	13 October 2015		Head of government	Executive
				30 November 2015	2 December 2015
Sibel Siber		Northern Cyprus	Prime Minister	13 June 2013	2 September 2013		Head of government	Executive
Aminata Touré	80px	Senegal	Prime Minister	1 September 2013	8 July 2014		Head of government	Executive
Erna Solberg	80px	Norway	Prime Minister	16 October 2013	14 October 2021		Head of government	Executive
Laimdota Straujuma	80px	Latvia	Prime Minister	22 January 2014	11 February 2016		Head of government	Executive
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca	80px	Malta	President	4 April 2014	4 April 2019		Head of state
Ewa Kopacz	80px	Poland	Prime Minister	22 September 2014	16 November 2015		Head of government
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović	80px	Croatia	President	19 February 2015	18 February 2020		Head of state
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim	80px	Mauritius	President	5 June 2015	23 March 2018		Head of state
Bidya Devi Bhandari	80px	Nepal	President	29 October 2015	Incumbent		Head of state
Beata Szydło		Poland	Prime Minister	16 November 2015	11 December 2017		Head of government	Executive
Hilda Heine	80px	Marshall Islands	President	28 January 2016	14 January 2020		Head of state and government	Executive
Aung San Suu Kyi		Myanmar	State Counsellor	6 April 2016	1 February 2021		De facto head of government
Tsai Ing-wen		Taiwan	President	20 May 2016	Incumbent		Head of state	Executive
Theresa May	80px	United Kingdom	Prime Minister	13 July 2016	24 July 2019		Head of government	Executive
Kersti Kaljulaid	80px	Estonia	President	10 October 2016	11 October 2021		Head of state
Ana Brnabić	80px	Serbia	Prime Minister	29 June 2017	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Halimah Yacob	80px	Singapore	President	14 September 2017	Incumbent		Head of state
Jacinda Ardern	80px	New Zealand	Prime Minister	26 October 2017	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Katrín Jakobsdóttir	80px	Iceland	Prime Minister	30 November 2017	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Viorica Dăncilă	80px	Romania	Prime Minister	29 January 2018	4 November 2019		Head of government	Executive
Paula-Mae Weekes	80px	Trinidad and Tobago	President	19 March 2018	Incumbent		Head of state
Mia Mottley	80px	Barbados	Prime Minister	25 May 2018	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Sahle-Work Zewde	80px	Ethiopia	President	25 October 2018	Incumbent		Head of state
Salome Zourabichvili	80px	Georgia	President	16 December 2018	Incumbent		Head of state
Brigitte Bierlein	80px	Austria	Chancellor (Interim)	3 June 2019	7 January 2020		Head of government	Executive
Maia Sandu	80px	Moldova	Prime Minister	8 June 2019	14 November 2019		Head of government	Executive
			President	24 December 2020	Incumbent		Head of state
Zuzana Čaputová	80px	Slovakia	President	15 June 2019	Incumbent		Head of state
Mette Frederiksen	80px	Denmark	Prime Minister	27 June 2019	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Sophie Wilmès	80px	Belgium	Prime Minister	27 October 2019	1 October 2020		Head of government	Executive
Jeanine Áñez	80px	Bolivia	President (Interim)	12 November 2019	8 November 2020		Head of state and government	Executive
Sanna Marin	80px	Finland	Prime Minister	10 December 2019	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Katerina Sakellaropoulou	80px	Greece	President	13 March 2020	Incumbent		Head of state
Rose Christiane Raponda	80px	Gabon	Prime Minister	16 July 2020	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Victoire Tomegah Dogbé	80px	Togo	Prime Minister	28 September 2020	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Ingrida Šimonytė	80px	Lithuania	Prime Minister	11 December 2020	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Kaja Kallas	80px	Estonia	Prime Minister	26 January 2021	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Samia Suluhu Hassan	80px	Tanzania	President	19 March 2021	Incumbent		Head of state and government	Executive
Vjosa Osmani	80px	Kosovo	President	4 April 2021	Incumbent		Head of state
Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa	80px	Samoa	Prime Minister	24 May 2021	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Natalia Gavrilița	80px	Moldova	Prime Minister	6 August 2021	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Najla Bouden	80px	Tunisia	Prime Minister	11 October 2021	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Sandra Mason	80px	Barbados	President	30 November 2021	Incumbent		Head of state
Magdalena Andersson	80px	Sweden	Prime Minister	30 November 2021	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive
Xiomara Castro	80px	Honduras	President	27 January 2022	Incumbent		Head of state and government	Executive
Katalin Novák	80px	Hungary	President	10 May 2022	Incumbent		Head of state
Élisabeth Borne	80px	France	Prime Minister	16 May 2022	Incumbent		Head of government
Droupadi Murmu	80px	India	President	25 July 2022	Incumbent		Head of state
Liz Truss	80px	United Kingdom	Prime Minister	6 September 2022	Incumbent		Head of government	Executive

Elected or appointed acting female chief executives

This list includes women elected or appointed in an acting capacity, wherein they assumed a vacated office on a temporary basis.

  Incumbent

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Head of state or government
Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa	50px	Mongolia	Acting Chairman of the Presidium of the State Great Khural	7 September 1953	7 July 1954		Head of state
Soong Ching-ling	50px	China	Acting Co-Chairperson	31 October 1968	24 April 1972		Head of state
			Acting Chairperson	6 July 1976	5 March 1978
Lidia Gueiler Tejada	50px	Bolivia	Acting President	16 November 1979	17 July 1980		Head of state
Carmen Pereira		Guinea-Bissau	Acting President	14 May 1984	16 May 1984		Head of state
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot		Haiti	Acting President	13 March 1990	7 February 1991		Head of state
Sylvie Kinigi	50px	Burundi	Acting President	27 October 1993	5 February 1994		Head of state
Reneta Indzhova	50px	Bulgaria	Acting Prime Minister	17 October 1994	25 January 1995		Head of government
Rosalía Arteaga	50px	Ecuador	Acting President	9 February 1997	11 February 1997		Head of state and government
Irena Degutienė	50px	Lithuania	Acting Prime Minister	4 May 1999	18 May 1999		Head of government
				27 October 1999	3 November 1999
Nyam-Osoryn Tuyaa		Mongolia	Acting Prime Minister	22 July 1999	30 July 1999		Head of government
Nataša Mićić	50px	Serbia	Acting President	29 December 2002	27 January 2004		Head of state
Nino Burjanadze		Georgia	Acting President	23 November 2003	25 January 2004		Head of state
		Georgia		25 November 2007	20 January 2008
Barbara Prammer		Austria	Co-Acting President	6 July 2004	8 July 2004		Head of state
Radmila Šekerinska		Macedonia	Acting Prime Minister	12 May 2004	12 June 2004		Head of government
				3 November 2004	15 December 2004
Dalia Itzik		Israel	Acting President	25 January 2007	15 July 2007		Head of state
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri		South Africa	Acting President	25 September 2008		14 hours	Head of state and government
Rose Francine Rogombé		Gabon	Acting President	10 June 2009	16 October 2009		Head of state
Cécile Manorohanta	50px	Madagascar	Acting Prime Minister	18 December 2009	20 December 2009		Head of government
Adiato Djaló Nandigna		Guinea-Bissau	Acting Prime Minister	10 February 2012	12 April 2012		Head of government
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau		Mauritius	Acting President	31 March 2012	21 July 2012		Head of state
				29 May 2015	5 June 2015
Slavica Đukić Dejanović	50px	Serbia	Acting President	5 April 2012	31 May 2012		Head of state
Catherine Samba-Panza	50px	Central African Republic	Acting President	23 January 2014	30 March 2016		Head of state
Florence Duperval Guillaume		Haiti	Acting Prime Minister	20 December 2014	16 January 2015		Head of government
Natalia Gherman		Moldova	Acting Prime Minister	22 June 2015	30 July 2015		Head of government
Vassiliki Thanou	50px	Greece	Acting Prime Minister	27 August 2015	21 September 2015		Head of government
Maya Parnas		Transnistria	Acting Prime Minister	13 October 2015	30 November 2015		Head of government
				2 December 2015	23 December 2015
Doris Bures		Austria	Co-Acting President	8 July 2016	26 January 2017		Head of state
Cármen Lúcia	74x74px	Brazil	Acting President	13 April 2018	14 April 2018	8 days	Head of state and government
				18 June 2018	18 June 2018
				17 July 2018	18 July 2018
				23 July 2018	28 July 2018
Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh	50px	Vietnam	Acting President	21 September 2018	23 October 2018		Head of state
Vjosa Osmani	50px	Kosovo	Acting President	5 November 2020	22 March 2021		Head of state
Maya Tskitishvili		Georgia	Acting Prime Minister	18 February 2021	22 February 2021		Head of government

Female members of collective head-of-state bodies

  Incumbent

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Head of state or government
Alexandra Kollontai	70px	Soviet Russia	Member of the Council of People's Commissars	26 October 1917	23 February 1918		Member of the collective head of state
Nadezhda Krupskaya	70px	Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	12 December 1937	27 February 1939		Member of the collective head of state
Klavdiya Nikolayeva	70px	Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	12 December 1937	10 February 1946		Member of the collective head of state
Anna Pankratova	70px	Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	14 March 1954	25 May 1957		Member of the collective head of state
Yekaterina Furtseva		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	12 March 1950	18 April 1962		Member of the collective head of state
Alicja Musiałowa-Afanasjew		Poland	Member of the Council of State	20 November 1952	24 June 1965		Member of the collective head of state
Yadgar Nasriddinova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	24 March 1959	25 September 1970		Member of the collective head of state
Luise Ermisch		East Germany	Member of the State Council	12 September 1960	13 November 1963		Member of the collective head of state
Irmgard Neumann	70px	East Germany	Member of the State Council	12 September 1960	13 November 1963		Member of the collective head of state
Tursunoy Akhunova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	18 April 1962	16 June 1974		Member of the collective head of state
Lieselott Herforth	70px	East Germany	Member of the State Council	13 November 1963	25 June 1981		Member of the collective head of state
Else Merke	70px	East Germany	Member of the State Council	13 November 1963	26 November 1971		Member of the collective head of state
Brunhilde Hanke		East Germany	Member of the State Council	19 November 1964	5 April 1990		Member of the collective head of state
Anni Neumann		East Germany	Member of the State Council	19 November 1964	26 November 1971		Member of the collective head of state
Eugenia Krassowska-Jodłowska		Poland	Member of the Council of State	24 June 1965	28 March 1972		Member of the collective head of state
Zoya Pukhova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	12 June 1966	25 May 1989		Member of the collective head of state
Maria Schneider		East Germany	Member of the State Council	13 July 1967	26 November 1971		Member of the collective head of state
Margarete Müller	70px	East Germany	Member of the State Council	26 November 1971	11 January 1990		Member of the collective head of state
Ilse Thiele		East Germany	Member of the State Council	26 November 1971	11 January 1990		Member of the collective head of state
Rosel Walther	70px	East Germany	Member of the State Council	26 November 1971	5 April 1990		Member of the collective head of state
Halina Koźniewska		Poland	Member of the Council of State	28 March 1972	2 April 1980		Member of the collective head of state
Valentina Tereshkova	70px	Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	June 1974	March or April 1989	c. 14 years	Member of the collective head of state
Rimma Gavrilova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	16 June 1974	4 March 1984		Member of the collective head of state
Kamshat Donenbaeva		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	16 June 1974	25 May 1989		Member of the collective head of state
Eugenia Kempara		Poland	Member of the Council of State	18 December 1976	6 November 1985		Member of the collective head of state
Yekaterina Mukhina		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	4 March 1979	4 March 1984		Member of the collective head of state
Violeta Chamorro		Nicaragua	Member of the Junta of National Reconstruction	18 July 1979	19 April 1980		Member of the collective head of state and government
Krystyna Marszałek-Młyńczyk		Poland	Member of the Council of State	2 April 1980	23 March 1983		Member of the collective head of state
Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1981	1 October 1981		Member of the collective head of state
Johanna Töpfer	70px	East Germany	Member of the State Council	25 June 1981	17 November 1989		Member of the collective head of state
Gloriana Ranocchini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1984	1 October 1984		Member of the collective head of state
				1 October 1989	1 April 1990
Elisabeth Kopp		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	21 October 1984	12 January 1989		Member of the collective head of state and government
Elżbieta Gacek		Poland	Member of the Council of State	6 November 1985	17 June 1988		Member of the collective head of state
Monika Werner		East Germany	Member of the State Council	16 June 1986	5 April 1990		Member of the collective head of state
Eveline Klett		East Germany	Member of the State Council	16 June 1986	5 April 1990		Member of the collective head of state
Edda Ceccoli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 1991	1 April 1992		Member of the collective head of state
Biljana Plavšić		Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serb Member of the Presidency	1 March 1992	9 April 1992		Member of the collective head of state
Tatjana Ljujić-Mijatović		Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serb Member of the Presidency	24 December 1992	5 October 1996		Member of the collective head of state
Ruth Dreifuss		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 April 1993	31 December 2002		Member of the collective head of state and government
Patrizia Busignani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1993	1 October 1993		Member of the collective head of state
Ruth Metzler		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 1999	31 December 2003		Member of the collective head of state and government
Rosa Zafferani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1999	1 October 1999		Member of the collective head of state
				1 April 2008	1 October 2008
Maria Domenica Michelotti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2000	1 October 2000		Member of the collective head of state and government
Micheline Calmy-Rey		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 2003	31 December 2011		Member of the collective head of state and government
Valeria Ciavatta		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2003	1 April 2004		Member of the collective head of state
				1 April 2014	1 October 2014
Fausta Morganti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2005	1 October 2005		Member of the collective head of state
Doris Leuthard		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 August 2006	31 December 2018		Member of the collective head of state and government
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 2008	31 December 2015		Member of the collective head of state and government
Assunta Meloni		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2008	1 April 2009		Member of the collective head of state
Simonetta Sommaruga	70px	Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 November 2010	Incumbent		Member of the collective head of state and government
Maria Luisa Berti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2011	1 October 2011		Member of the collective head of state
		San Marino		1 October 2022	Incumbent
Denise Bronzetti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2012	1 April 2013		Member of the collective head of state
Antonella Mularoni		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2013	1 October 2013		Member of the collective head of state
Anna Maria Muccioli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2013	1 April 2014		Member of the collective head of state
Lorella Stefanelli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2015	1 April 2016		Member of the collective head of state
Mimma Zavoli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2017	1 October 2017		Member of the collective head of state
Vanessa D'Ambrosio		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2017	1 October 2017		Member of the collective head of state
Karin Keller-Sutter	70px	Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 2019	Incumbent		Member of the collective head of state and government
Viola Amherd	70px	Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 2019	Incumbent		Member of the collective head of state and government
Aisha Musa el-Said		Sudan	Member of the Sovereignty Council	21 August 2019	21 May 2021		Member of the collective head of state
Raja Nicola		Sudan	Member of the Sovereignty Council	21 August 2019	25 October 2021		Member of the collective head of state
Mariella Mularoni	70px	San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2019	1 April 2020		Member of the collective head of state
Grazia Zafferani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2020	1 October 2020		Member of the collective head of state
Željka Cvijanović	70px	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serb member of the Presidency-elect				Member of the collective head of state

Female viceregal representatives

  Incumbent

Below are women who have been appointed representatives of heads of state, such as female governors-general and French representatives of Andorra. As governors-general are appointed representatives of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms (currently Charles III) and the French Representatives of Andorra are appointed representatives of the French Co-Prince of Andorra (currently Emmanuel Macron), they act as heads of state and carry out on a regular basis the functions and duties associated with such a role in the Commonwealth realms (excluding the United Kingdom, which has no governor-general, as the monarch of the Commonwealth realms primarily resides there) and Andorra, respectively.

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length
Elmira Minita Gordon		Belize	Governor-General	21 September 1981	17 November 1993
Jeanne Sauvé		Canada	Governor General	14 May 1984	29 January 1990
Nita Barrow		Barbados	Governor-General	6 June 1990	19 December 1995
Catherine Tizard	80px	New Zealand	Governor-General	13 December 1990	21 March 1996
Pearlette Louisy		Saint Lucia	Governor-General	17 September 1997	31 December 2017
Adrienne Clarkson		Canada	Governor General	7 October 1999	27 September 2005
Silvia Cartwright	80px	New Zealand	Governor-General	4 April 2001	4 August 2006
Ivy Dumont		The Bahamas	Governor-General	11 November 2001	30 November 2005
Michaëlle Jean		Canada	Governor General	27 September 2005	1 October 2010
Emmanuelle Mignon		Andorra	Representative of the French Co-Prince	6 June 2007	24 September 2008
Louise Lake-Tack		Antigua and Barbuda	Governor-General	17 July 2007	13 August 2014
Quentin Bryce		Australia	Governor-General	5 September 2008	28 March 2014
Sylvie Hubac		Andorra	Representative of the French Co-Prince	15 May 2012	5 January 2015
Cécile La Grenade	80px	Grenada	Governor-General	7 May 2013	Incumbent
Marguerite Pindling	80px	The Bahamas	Governor-General	8 July 2014	28 June 2019
Patsy Reddy	80px	New Zealand	Governor-General	28 September 2016	28 September 2021
Julie Payette	80px	Canada	Governor General	2 October 2017	21 January 2021
Sandra Mason	80px	Barbados	Governor-General	8 January 2018	30 November 2021 (became inaugural president)
Susan Dougan	80px	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Governor-General	1 August 2019	Incumbent
Froyla Tzalam	80px	Belize	Governor-General	27 May 2021	Incumbent
Mary Simon	80px	Canada	Governor General	26 July 2021	Incumbent
Cindy Kiro	80px	New Zealand	Governor-General	21 October 2021	Incumbent

Acting female viceregal representatives

This list includes women appointed as viceregal representatives in an acting capacity, wherein they assumed a vacated office on a temporary basis.

  Incumbent

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length
Sian Elias	50px	New Zealand	Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General)	22 March 2001	4 April 2001
				4 August 2006	23 August 2006
				23 August 2011	31 August 2011
				31 August 2016	28 September 2016
Monica Dacon		Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Acting Governor-General	3 June 2002	2 September 2002
Sandra Mason	50px	Barbados	Acting Governor-General	30 May 2012	1 June 2012
Teniku Talesi Honolulu	50px	Tuvalu	Acting Governor-General	22 August 2019	15 January 2021
Helen Winkelmann	50px	New Zealand	Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General)	28 September 2021	21 October 2021

See also

• List of elected or appointed female deputy heads of government
• List of elected or appointed female deputy heads of state
• Female president of the United States in popular culture
• Council of Women World Leaders
• List of current state leaders by date of assumption of office
• List of vicereines in Canada
• Women in government
• List of the first women heads of government and state in Muslim-majority countries
• List of female Muslim heads of government and state
• Muslim women political leaders
• List of female hereditary rulers

External links

• List of Current Women Heads of State
• Women Heads of State
• Women Presidents and Women Governors-General (Zárate's Political Collections)
• Council of Women World Leaders
• Female Presidents