Rosa Gutknecht

Laura Elisabeth Rosa Gutknecht (1885–1959) was a German-born Swiss theologian and cleric.

[1][2] Born in Ludwigshafen, Germany, on 18 May 1885, Laura Elisabeth Rosa Gutknecht was brought up in Chur before she studied to become a teacher in Zürich.

After working as a teacher for eight years, she studied theology at the University of Zurich, graduating in 1918.

Appointed as assistant pastors at Zurich's Grossmünster, the two were principally involved in social work.

[1] Although the church and their male colleagues would have liked them to become vicars of their own parishes, as they did not have the right to vote, in 1920 the governmental authorities concluded that women could not be assigned to publicly funded administrative positions such as pastors in charge of their own parishes.