| Abstract [eng] |
Kaunas City Council election took place in 1918, 1920, 1921, 1924, 1931, and 1934. Women participated at Kaunas City Council election not only as electors, but also as candidates; however, in 1918–1934, only three women were elected to the City Council. Two more women were elected but they refused their mandate. Women were candidates of various parties, including the Catholic and the Liberal ones. Still, registered female candidates comprised only a small number of all candidates (i.e. 0.3% – 3.1%). In addition, women surnames were included in the second half of the candidate list or even at its end. This shows a conservative attitude of the society at this period. Lithuanian women were political candidates more often than women of other nationalities. In 1918–1924, the number of women candidates was gradually increasing; however, the census of election, which limited the realization of passive and active right of election of women, stopped this tendency. Candidates to Kaunas City Council were not only famous women of the time or members of Seimas, but also representatives of a lower social layer, i.e. workers or housewives. During the interwar period, Kaunas was the centre of women’s movement. Here active and well-known women and leaders of the women’s movement were candidates at the elections to the municipality; however, they were not elected. Municipality elections in Kaunas did not differ from a general Lithuanian context where there were only a few women candidates. Nevertheless, women would sign very actively on the lists of nominated candidates for election and would vote in municipality elections; however, they wanted to see males as members of the City Council. This shows that a traditional understanding of a woman’s role dominated in the society, and modernization tendencies were very slow. A woman as a decision-making authority was an idea which was difficult to understand. |
