- Who
- Soong Ching Ling, María Estela Martínez de Perón
- What
- first
- Where
- China ()
- When
The first woman president was María Estela Martínez de Perón (commonly known as Isabelita), the widow of Gen. Juan Perón. She was sworn in as interim leader of Argentina, as delegated by her husband, the President, who then died on 1 July, leaving her as President. Isabel Peron was deposed in a military coup on 24 March 1976.
Arguably the first woman to be head of state of a republic was Soong Ching Ling (the widow of Sun Yat-sen) who was Chair of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress from July1976 to March 1978 (during which time the Chinese presidency was in abeyance).
