Elisabeth Selbert was one of the four women who worked on the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, collectively called the Mutter des Grundgesetzes.
21 Facts About Elisabeth Selbert
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Elisabeth Selbert had a central role in ensuring that explicit equality between men and women was included as a fundamental right in the Basic Law.
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Elisabeth Selbert received a traditional upbringing for the time, which meant there was no expectation that she would struggle for equality.
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Elisabeth Selbert learned to embroider, sew, and knit, and had little time for reading.
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Adam promoted Elisabeth Selbert and took her to political events, and at the end of 1918, she joined the German Social Democrats.
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In 1919 Elisabeth Selbert stood for parliament as the candidate for the Niederzwehren municipality, and worked in the Finance Committee.
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Elisabeth Selbert was already interested in equality, and in October 1920 she went as a delegate to the first National Women's Conference in Kassel, where she said:.
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In 1920, she married Adam Elisabeth Selbert, and a year later her first child was born, followed shortly by a second.
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Elisabeth Selbert continued to work in the telegraph office while caring for the children, and still found time for politics.
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Elisabeth Selbert became a home student for a baccalaureate, and in 1925 earned it, sitting the exam as an external candidate.
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Elisabeth Selbert studied law and political science, first at the University of Marburg as the only female student.
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Elisabeth Selbert was not a difficult student, but her professors sometimes seemed overwhelmed.
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Elisabeth Selbert's thesis was on Zerruttung als Ehescheidungsgrund.
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Elisabeth Selbert was critical of the "principle of guilt", that women often had no rights in divorce.
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Elisabeth Selbert's proposed solutions were far ahead of their time, and were not implemented in Germany until 1977.
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At her husband's insistence, Elisabeth Selbert applied for admission to the legal profession.
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Two former Senate Presidents were in favour of Elisabeth Selbert, and deputising for Palandt during the Christmas holiday, they approved her.
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Elisabeth Selbert then sought a mandate for the German parliament, but did not succeed.
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Elisabeth Selbert continued to work as a lawyer in her practice, which specialised in family law, until she was eighty-five.
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Elisabeth Selbert died in her home town of Kassel on 9 June 1986.
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Elisabeth Selbert was awarded the Great Federal Cross of Merit in 1956.