**Renée Pellet is one of the most powerful women in French-speaking Switzerland and has made political history. Illustration by Marco Heer**

A trailblazing female politician from Meyrin

Renée Pellet was the first woman from French-speaking Switzerland to be elected to an executive body in 1960. As deputy mayor of Meyrin, she secured her place in Swiss political history.

Christophe Vuilleumier

Christophe Vuilleumier is a historian and board member of the Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Geschichte (Swiss Historical Society). He has published a number of articles on 17th and 20th century Swiss history.

Renée Châtelain was born on 10 January 1905. Her home town of Meyrin in the canton of Geneva was an agricultural village at the time with just under 1,000 inhabitants and bore little resemblance to the town on the French border as it is now. The region had had a turbulent past, shaped by conflicts between Geneva and Savoy before becoming part of Switzerland in 1815. Meyrin’s transformation to the modern town it is today started with the building of the first airstrip in the neighbourhood of Cointrin in 1922. Renéé, who was 17 years old at the time, witnessed these major changes. She went to school in Cointrin, after moving there with her family in 1916. But this was all a long time before she entered politics.

**A bird’s eye view of Geneva-Cointrin airport, photographed by aviation pioneer Walter Mittelholzer in 1931.** e-pics

Renée’s talent for drama and singing was spotted early by her teacher, who himself had been a pupil of the famous music instructor, Jaques-Dalcroze. He supported and encouraged her to join an amateur theatre and music group, where the young Renée acquired her public speaking skills. She would later go on to use this talent on the political stage. Besides studying literature and music, Renée Châtelain completed an apprenticeship in the watchmaking industry and worked as an adjuster in charge of product precision in a watchmaking factory from 1923. In 1932 she married Alphonse Pellet. Yet their happiness was short-lived as Alphonse died just a few months later, leaving Renée a young widow. She never remarried, devoting herself increasingly to public service instead. During the Second World War, for example, she was involved in the civil air defence organisation which aimed to protect the public from air raids.

**Women in the civil air defence organisation in Vevey during the Second World War.** Swiss National Museum / ASL

Renée Pellet stopped working in 1958 to care for her sick mother and joined the Swiss Soviet Society, an organisation that promoted ties between Switzerland and the Soviet Union, particularly appealing to people with socialist leanings. Pellet sympathised with socialist ideas and joined a cultural trip to the Soviet Union in 1958, despite major tensions between East and West. Almost at the same time, CERN was established in Meyrin, making the town a centre of modernisation. Renée Pellet had always been political, but she only became politically active in October 1960 when at the age of 58 she decided to stand in the by-elections for the office of deputy mayor of Meyrin. She stood for the non-partisan women’s movement of Meyrin, won the election, and made history. The canton of Geneva had only introduced women’s suffrage in cantonal elections in March of that year. Pellet beat two male candidates, making her the first woman to hold a seat on an executive body in French-speaking Switzerland.

Article in the newspaper La sentinelle on the election of Renée Pellet, 3 October 1960. — **Article in the newspaper *La sentinelle* on the election of Renée Pellet, 3 October 1960.** e-newspaperarchives

During her term of office, Renée Pellet dedicated herself to matters such as road building and public services, while also working on the town’s social and welfare issues. Meyrin’s proximity to Geneva changed the face of the town very rapidly. The urban influence grew and the population skyrocketed. In 1963 Renée Pellet stood again but her re-election bid failed. One of the main reasons being that the new inhabitants of Meyrin, who had no links to the town and its past, didn’t value Pellet’s local ties, seeing her as just one of many candidates. However, she was successfully elected to the Municipal Council, of which she was a member until 1975 and Chair between 1968 and 1969.

**Photograph of Renée Pellet, taken in the winter of 1977.** Commune of Meyrin

Renée Pellet was a true pioneer. As the first woman from French-speaking Switzerland to hold an executive office, she helped pave the way for Swiss women in politics. Until her death in December 1985, Renée Pellet fought for social justice and has remained a symbol of courage, commitment and an unshakeable belief in a better society ever since.

More of: 20th / 21st century Politics Women in history

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