Elizabeth Fish

Elizabeth Mary Jane Fish (22 December 1860 – 21 March 1944) was a schoolteacher and the first elected woman president of the Educational Institute of Scotland, the oldest teachers' trade union in the world.

Early life and education Elizabeth Fish was born at 83 North Woodside Road in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1860. to Jane McNaughton and William Fish, a city missionary.

In June 1913, Fish was elected the first woman president of the EIS.

Equal pay In January 1914, Fish acknowledged that the question of equal pay was a controversial one for members of the Scottish and English Teachers' Associations and called for improvements to teachers' salaries during her presidential address at the annual congress. While condemning the low pay of women teachers, she argued that:"If we teachers ask that the salaries of all teachers be now raised to the level of what men teachers think theirs ought to be, we shall alienate the sympathies of a public not yet convinced of the justice of our demand."

Death and legacy Elizabeth Fish died in Paisley Infirmary on 21 March 1944 after a fall at home. She was 83. The next day, her obituary in the Glasgow Herald described Fish as "the champion of women teachers in Scotland".