She had a central role in ensuring that explicit equality between men and women was included as a fundamental right in the Basic Law.

Selbert was born Martha Elisabeth Rohde on 22 September 1896 in Kassel, the second of four daughters in a Christian family.

In 1914, after losing this job, she worked in the Telegraphendienst der Reichspost ((in German) "Telegraph Service of the Reich Post"), receiving this position because of the shortage of male workers during the First World War.

Here, in 1918, in the middle of the November Revolution, she met her future husband, the scholar Adam Selbert, who was then chair of the Arbeiter- und Soldatenrat ((in German) "Workers' and Soldiers' Council") in Niederzwehren near Kassel.

Adam promoted Elisabeth and took her to political events, and at the end of 1918, she joined the German Social Democrats.

Philipp Scheidemann, who was then Lord Mayor of Kassel and later became Reichskanzler ((in German) "Chancellor of the Reich"), encouraged Selbert to become active in politics.

Selbert should have been rejected under these rules, but despite Palandt's wishes, despite the Bar Association's vote, and despite the Nazi lawyers, she was admitted to the Oberlandesgericht ((in German) "Higher National Court") on 15 December 1934 — five days before the cutoff.

After the Nazi defeat, in 1946 Selbert was elected to the State Consultative Assembly representing the Social Democratic Party for Greater Hesse.

The original wording of Article 3 was from the Weimar Constitution, reading: "Men and women have the same civil rights and duties."

As a result of this constitutional principle, many of the old family law provisions (that dated back to 1896) had to be revised to bring them into conformity.

Since 1983, the Hesse State Government has biannually awarded the Elisabeth Selbert Prize, "in recognition of outstanding performance for promoting equal opportunities between women and men."