Quote:
Originally Posted by GA Russell
Actually, many queens have been head of state over the centuries, such as Isabella of Castille and Elizabeth I of England.
Anyone have an idea who might have been the first female head of state in the Western world? (I suppose we cannot count Cleopatra of Egypt, which is southwest of Israel.)
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That is a good point. I was looking at a couple of maps/graphs, on Wikipedia I think that it was, a few days ago. I was trying to determine what is considered "The West" (western hemisphere) and what is considered "The East" (eastern hemisphere). Frankly, I don't remember where Israel fell; it might be considered in The East, but, if so, it would be barely so.
If Israel is considered in The East, Meir might be the first woman in
The East to have served as head of state, but. as you pointed out, she wouldn't have been so in The West.
As a side point, Israel is in the continent of Asia. But that's rarely mentioned. When people speak of "Asia" today, they usually mean the land east of Iran or so. Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and others are usually thrown into a separate category, the "Middle East," even though the Middle East is not a continent. Perhaps some people would find it interesting to know that at one time, and still in some academic circles, everything to the east of the Mediterranean Sea was called the "Orient"! So, that would include Israel, Iraq, Iran,
et al.!