Constance Georgine, Countess Markiewicz

Constance Georgine Markiewicz, Countess Markiewicz (née Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), was an Irish Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil politician, revolutionary nationalist, suffragette and socialist. She was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons, though she did not take her seat and along with the other Sinn Féin TDs formed the first Dáil Éireann. She was also the first woman in Europe to hold a cabinet position (Minister ... more

Constance Georgine Markiewicz, Countess Markiewicz (née Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), was an Irish Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil politician, revolutionary nationalist, suffragette and socialist. She was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons, though she did not take her seat and along with the other Sinn Féin TDs formed the first Dáil Éireann. She was also the first woman in Europe to hold a cabinet position (Minister of Labour of the Irish Republic, 1919–1922). She was born Constance Georgine Gore-Booth at Buckingham Gate in London, the elder daughter of the Arctic explorer and adventurer Sir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th Baronet, and Lady Georgina née Hill. Unlike many Anglo-Irish landowners in Ireland, he was an enlightened landlord who administered his 100 km (39 sq mi) estate with compassion. During the famine of 1879–80, Sir Henry provided free food for the tenants on his estate at Lissadell in the north of County Sligo in the West of Ireland. Their father's... less