Virginia Knauer

Virginia Harrington Knauer (née Wright; March 28, 1915 – October 16, 2011) was an American Republican politician. She served as the Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs and Director of the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs (1969–1977 and 1981–1989). In 1959 she became the first Republican woman to be elected to the Philadelphia City Council, in which she served for eight years. She was appointed to the newly created post of chief consumer advisor to Pennsylvania Governor Ray Shafer. She was also the mentor and good friend of former North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole. Knauer died on October 16, 2011, in Washington, D.C., at age 96.

Early life and education

Knauer was born Virginia Harrington Wright on March 28, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Philadelphia, where her father was a professor of accounting at Temple University. She was educated at the Philadelphia High School for Girls, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the University of Pennsylvania (graduated 1937); she also attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy.

During the 1950s, Knauer was one of the country's top breeders of Doberman Pinschers. She served as president of the Doberman Pinscher Club of America. She also headed the Office of Consumer Affairs during the Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan administrations. Virginia Knauer died October 16, 2011, of congestive heart failure, in Washington, D.C.