Solomon, Bertha

(1892–1969)

   South African politician. The daughter of an early Zionist leader in South Africa, Bertha Solomon was the second woman barrister-at-law to be admitted in that country. She served for five years in the Transvaal Provincial Council and was responsible for making third-party risk insurance compulsory for motorists. In 1938 she was elected to the South African parliament as a member of SMUTS’ United Party, and retained her seat for twenty years, until she retired from the House. A leader of the National Council of Women and a lifelong champion of women’s rights, she pushed through the Matrimonial Affairs Act of 1953, removing certain legal disabilities of married women. She was an active supporter of the Hebrew University and visited Israel several times. Her autobiography, Time Remembered, was published in 1968, and in that same year she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the Witwatersrand.