Female Ambassadors A-E

Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership
First female Ambassadors A-E

This is the list of the first women appointed as ambassadors in the countries which has had a female ambassador to this date. Some of the information in this list is supplied by Mart Martin.

A B C D E

A

Afghanistan

1979-80 Dr. Anahita Ratebezad, Yugoslavia
Former Minister in the Government

Albania

Circa 1982 Syeda Laze, Viet Nam (Male/Female?)

1993-? Suzana Faja, Poland

1998-? Liljana Bsjati, USA  

Algeria

2001-? Malika Saci, Denmark
Three other women were appointed Ambassadors in 2001.

Andorra

1993-99 Meritxell Mateu i Pi,
Ambassador to France and UNESCO and Council of Europe
1997-2005 Ambassador to Belgium Netherlands and Luxembourg and European Union
2000-
05 Ambassador to Denmark and Slovenia
Minister of External Relations from 2007.

Angola

1978-? Maria de Jesus Haller, Sweden

Antigua and Barbuda

Around 1988 A.A.B Vanderpoole, United Kingdom 

1992-98 Deborach-Mae Lowell, Canada (Acting)

Around 1998 Ambassador-at-large Yvonne Maignly

Argentina

Circa 1962 Angela C. Romera Vara, Panama

Until 1976 Dr. P.B. Cabuet, The Netherlands

Armenia

1919-20 Diana Agabeg Apcar, Counsul to Japan.
As the First Republic did not send any other diplomats to the country (or most other countries), she acted as the official representative of the First Republic of Armenia to Japan


1991 Sevad Sevan, Bulgaria

Australia

1971-75 Dame Anabella Rankin, New Zealand
Former minister

Austria

1959 Johanna Mondschein, Norway

1966-70 Dr. Johanna Nestor, India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka
1972-76 Israel
1979-83 Ireland

Azerbaijan

1993-? 
Eleonora-hanoum Gousseinova, France

B

Bahamas

1979-80 Dr. Patricia E. Ridgers, Canada (Acting) and Chargé d’affaires to USA
1982-83 Deputy Representative to OAS
1983-86 Acting Ambassador to Canada
1988-94 Ambassador to United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, European Communities and various United Nations Organizations
1988-98 Under Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1986 Margaret McDonald, USA

Bahrain

2000-05 Sheika Hayya bint Rashid Al-Kalifha, France and UNESCO
2001-05 Ambassador to Switzerland and Spain

Also known as Shaikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, she is a member of the ruling Al-Khalifa-family

Bangladesh

Circa 1980-81 Tahmina Khan Dolly, Sri Lanka

Barbados

1975 Cyralene Gale, Canada  

1970-73 Valerie T. McComie, USA
1973-76 Venezuela

Belarus

1992-94 Nina Nikolaevna Mazai, France (Chargé d’Affaire)
1994-97  Ambassador to France
1996-97 Spain
2001-? Canada
Deputy Foreign Minister 1997-2001.

Belgium

1966-69 Edmonde Dever, Assistant Representative to the United Nations
1973-78 Sweden
1978-81 Austria
1981-88 United Nations

Belize

1988-89 Ursula H. Barrow, Deputy Representative to the United Nations
1989-91 United Nations
1993-98 United Kingdom, Germany, France and European Union

Bénin

Ca.1980-83-? Bernardine do Régio, Nigeria
1992-94 Canada

Bhutan


2014 Kunzang Choden Namgye, United Nations


2014 Pema Choden, Bangladesh

Bolivia

1969 Teresa Alexander Dupleich, Organization of American States

Circa 1982-ca. 91 Myriam Paz Cerruto, France

1982-83 Lidia Gueiler Tejada, Ambassador in the Embassy in Germany
1983-86 and 1993-? Venezuela
From 1993  Venezuela
Acting President of the Republic of Bolivia 1979-80.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

1992-? Sadzida Silaidzic, Pakistan

1992-? Bisera Turkovic, Croatia

Botswana

1970-74 Dr. Gaositwe K.C.Tipe, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, European Communities and  Nigeria
Later Minister of Foreign Affairs

Brazil

1951 Ivete Vargas, Special Ambassador on a mission to Lebanon

1959-60 Beata Vettori, European Communities
1966-69 Ecuador and Senegal

1959-63 Odette De Cavalho e Souza to ?

1965 Dora Vasconcelos, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago

Brunei

Circa 1996/97- HRH Princess Hama of Brunei, Ambassador-at-Large in the Foreign Ministry
Many times Acting Foreign Minister.

1998- Peringran Hajah Masrainak Peringran Haji Ahmad, Denmark (Non-resident)
2000-01 France 
2002-? Italy

Bulgaria

1949-52-? Stela Dmitrova Blagoeva, USSR and Finland

Burkina Faso

1985 Maimouna Ouattara, Ghana

1986-90 Anne Konaté; Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, The Gambia and Cape Verde
1990-99 Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
From 1996 "Doyenne de la corps diplomatique au Court de la reine Danoise".

Burma (Myanmar)

1960-67 Daw Khin Kuy, India
The only female ambassador - widow of Aung San and Mother of Aung San Suu Kuy, the Leader of Myanmar from 2016

Burundi

1994-circa 98 Julie Ngiriye, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway (and Iceland)

C

Cambodia

Around 1990/91 Bo Rasi, USSR
2002-? to Bulgaria

Cameroon

1982-86 Simone Mairie, United Nations

Canada

1930 Irene Parlby, Delegate (Ambassador) to the League of Nations
She was Minister without Portfolio in the Province of Alberta

1958-61 Margaret Blance Meagher, Israel
1961    Cypres
1962-66 Austria
1967-69 Kenya and Uganda
1969-73 Sweden

Capo Verde

1997-99 Marly de Meneses Barbosa-Vincente, Denmark, Estonia, Finland Iceland, Norway and Sweden and the Netherlands

1999-2001 Maria de Fatima Lima Veiga, Cuba
Afterwards Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to the United Nations.

1999-? Maria Luisa Ferredo Ribeiro, France
Former Representative to UNESCO 1992-93

Central African Republic

Ca 1998-? Ambassador and Director General for the Francophonie Dorothée Aimée Malanzapa

Chad

Around 1978 Dr. Helena Tchiouna, Cameroon
1993-97 China


1989-? Martine Djoumbi, Zaire
 

China

1979-81 Deng Xuesong, The Netherlands
1982-84 Denmark

Chile

1927-30 Olga de la Barra, Vice-Consul at Glasgow
1930-? Consul-attaché in London.

1928-30 Ines Ortuzar, Consul at Hull
1930-? Consul at Glasgow with responsibility for the whole of Scotland.

1933 Gabriela Mistral, Ambassador-at-large for Latin American Culture. Also Representative by the League of Nations, possibly with rang of Ambassador

1947-? Carmen Vidal de Senoret, The Neterlands (envoy/minister)

She was married to the envoy to United Kingdom

1950-52 Ana Figuero Gjardo, United Nations (Ambassador)

Colombia

1966-
69 Esmeralda Arboleda Cavidad, Austria and Yugoslavia
1969-? Deputy Perament Representative to the United Nations
Former Minister in the Government.

Congo-Brazzaville

Circa 1985-92 C. Eckomband, Guinea

Congo-Kingazza (Formerly Zaire)

1983-87 Bintou' A-Tshabola, Austria

Cook Islands (Associated State with New Zealand)

2002-03 Audrey Pereira-Brown, New Zealand (Acting)
(1st Secretary in the High Commission in Wellington)

2003-? Sonya Kamana, New Zealand (Acting)
(1st Secretary in the High Commission in Wellington)

Costa Rica

1959 Angela Acuña Braun de Chahon, Organization of American States

1964-? Maria de Chittenden, United Kingdom, Norway etc.

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

1996-circa 2004 Liliana Marie-Laure Ba, Denmark, Finland, Norway

Croatia

1992 Anamarija Besker, United Nations in Vienna

1995 Vesna Girardi Jurkic, France
Former Minister

Cuba

Circa 1962 Blanca Díaz Collazo, Colombia

Cyprus

1993-96 Myrna Y. Kleopas, China  
1998-2000 Italy
2000- United Kingdom

Cyprus, Turkish Republic of Northern

2006-? Yonca Şenyiğit, Foreign Representative to United Kingdom
Co-Representative 2005-06.

Czechoslovakia

1990-93 Hanna Seveikova, Denmark
Continued as ambassador for the Czech Republic until 1995

1990-93 Magdalena Vasarayova, Austria
Continued as ambassador for Slovakia

1990-93 Paulina Rznickova, Spain
Continued as ambassador for the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

1993-95 Hanna Seveikova, Denmark
Represented Czechoslovakia since 1990

1993-? Paulina Rznickova, Spain
Represented Czechoslovakia since 1990

1993-? Rita Klimova, USA
Represented Czechoslovakia since 1992

1993-? Marketa Fiakova, Poland

D

Denmark

1949-55 Bodil Begtrup, Iceland (Envoy)
1955 Ambassador to Iceland
1956-59 European Council
1959-68 Switzerland
1968-73 Portugal

The Dominican Republic

1950-71 Minerva Bernardino, United Nations
1971-76 The Netherlands

Dominica

Circa 1985 Marciella H. Mukasa, USA

Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic) DDR

1958-66 Eleonora Straimer, Yugoslavia (Envoy)
1966-69 Ambassador to Yugoslavia

1974-78 Eleonora Smid, Guinea and Sierra Leone
1974-75 Guinea-Bissau
1975-79 Gambia
1981-89 Morocco
1982-89 Senegal and Capo Verde
(The second and last female ambassador of DDR)

E

Ecuador

1975-78 Amamda Pesantes Garcia, Denmark

Egypt

1978 Aisha Reteb, in the Foreign Ministry
1979-81 Denmark
1981-84 Western Germany
She was a former minister

El Salvador

1988-94 Ana-Cristina Sol Midence, France, Belgium, Portugal, European Communities and UNESCO
1994-97 USA
Later Minister in the government.

Equatorial Guinea

Circa 1993-?  Maria Resserección Bita Boriesa, Morocco

Eritrea

1999-2001 Hibret Berhe Misgun, Sweden, Norway and Finland
2000-01 Denmark

1999-? Hana Simon, Belgium and European Union

Estonia

1991-92 Senta Alas, Denmark

1992 Valvi Stikaitiene, Lithuania

1992 Leili Utno, Latvia

Ethiopia

1975-77 Yodith Imre, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway
Former Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs

1990-94 Sahele Work Zewdie, Senegal
1994-? Djubouti  

Last update 20.03.16


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