Women’s participation in Politics
The suffrage movement in Europe emerged in the 19th century, and it took quite a time to achieve success. Women gained the right to vote the earliest in Finland (in 1906) and the latest in Switzerland (in 1971). In 1919, Georgia was one of the first countries to grant women the right to vote. Five women were elected to the Constituent Assembly (parliament): Minadora Orjonikidze-Toroshelidze, Eleonora Ter-Parsegova-Makhviladze, Kristine Sharashidze, Ana Sologhashvili, and Elisabed Nakashidze-Bolkvadze. Three of these women were later subjected to repressions by the Soviet regime, while Ana Sologhashvili was executed during the Great Purge in 1937.
As early as 1918, Peri-Khan Sofieva ran for the self-government elections held in Tbilisi and was elected a deputy to the local government (Eroba) from the Karajala district. This was the earliest case of electing a Muslim woman through democratic elections anywhere in the world.
