Marie Louise Emilienne Rochecouste (20 September 1892 – 28 February 1979) was a Mauritian politician. In 1948 she became the first woman elected to the Legislative Council, serving until 1953.
Biography Born Marie Louise Emilienne Orian in 1892 into a mixed-race Franco-Mauritian family, Rochecouste worked as a primary school teacher and headmistress.Chit Geerjanand Dukhira (2002) History of Mauritius: Experiments in Democracy, p100Susan Franceschet, Mona Lena Krook & Netina Tan (2018) The Palgrave Handbook of Women’s Political Rights p549Ramola Ramtohul (2009) Engendering Mauritian History: The HiddenControversies over Female Suffrage Afrika Zamani, No. 17, pp63–80 She married Raphael Rochecouste in July 1916. During World War II, their son Hervé died while serving in the Royal Air Force.Jean Maxime Herve Rochecouste Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Rochecouste stood as an independent candidate in the six-seat Plaines Wilhems–Black River constituency in the August 1948 elections.Sydney Selvon (2018) A New Comprehensive History of Mauritius, chapter 40 At an executive committee meeting held on 11 July, the Labour Party decided to support her candidacy despite being opposed to the concept of female suffrage. She finished second in the vote, becoming the first woman elected to the Legislative Council. Following the elections, Denise De Chazal was appointed as a second female member. She lost her seat in the 1953 elections, finishing twentieth out of thirty candidates.Results of the General Election for the Mauritius Legislative Council held on 26 August 1953 Electoral Commission
Rochecouste was appointed an OBE in the 1958 Birthday Honours. In the 1970s the government school in her hometown of Quatre Bornes was named after her.EMILIENNE ROCHECOUSTE GS: 24 élèves s’automutilent avec une lame de taille crayon Le Mauricien, 16 June 2011
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