Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger

Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger (14 March 1933 – 5 September 2022) was a Swiss jurist, university lecturer, judge and a member of the Social Democratic Party (SP). She was elected the first female judge of the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.

Early life and education Bigler-Eggenberger was born on 14 March 1933 in Uzwil, Canton St.Gallen, and grew up in a household where the perception that women and man have equal rights in a democracy was predominant. Her father Mathias Eggenberger was a member of both the Swiss National Council and the Council of States, and her mother Wilhelmina was involved in the establishment of a women's branch of the Social Democrats in Uzwil. During World War II, Jewish fugitives and socialists lived in their household. In 1966 she became a lecturer at the University of St.Gallen and also a judge at the Social Security Court. Her candidacy did not please all and some attempted to prevent her election into a formerly men-only court. She was elected narrowly and in 1972 she became the first substitute judge and in 1974 a regular judge of the Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne. In 1977, she was involved in the equal pay lawsuit. She was a civil-law judge for 20 years until she resigned in 1994. Following that she stayed a part-time Federal judge for another two years.

Political views She was a member of the Social Democratic Party (SP) on whose ticket she was also elected into the Federal Supreme Court. She was involved in politics since an early age, at a time when women were only allowed to work with the permission of their husband and also not allowed to vote. She was a firm supporter of women's voting rights and did not understand why the Swiss People's Party (SVP) would oppose women's voter rights since in her view women played an active and independent role in a farmer's household. She was involved in the yes campaign on the referendums on women voters rights both 1959 and 1971.

Personal life Eggenberger married Kurt Bigler in 1959. Bigler was a of German-Jewish descent and born as Kurt Bergheimer. He escaped from a concentration camp in France into Switzerland in 1942. He was then adopted by the teacher Berta Bigler. The marriage between Kurt Bigler and Margrith Eggenberger was childless. She died on 5 September 2022.