New Zealand politician who served as Mayor of Auckland City (1983-1990) and the 16th governor-general of New Zealand (1990-1996), the first woman to hold either office.
She was born to Scottish immigrants in Auckland. After College she studied zoology at the Auckland University College. At University she met her husband Bob Tizard (who was later the Vice Prime Minister of New Zealand). They married in 1951 and had 4 children.
In 1971 she was elected to the Auckland City Council. In 1983 she ran for mayor of Auckland City and won. In 1989 Tizard was appointed by Elizabeth II as the nation’s first female governor-general on the advice of Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer. She took office in December 1990. Then-Deputy Prime Minister Helen Clark and Labour Party President Margaret Wilson pushed for a female governor-general, as the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand would occur during the governor-general’s term in 1993. Tizard had been informed of her impending appointment by her former husband Bob Tizard, who was a member of Cabinet at the time. She later commented that this was the only time Bob breached cabinet confidentiality. In 2010 Tizard published her memoirs, Cat Amongst the Pigeons, a reference to her personal arms.
She died in Auckland on 31 October 2021 at age 90 following a long illness.
Link to Wikipedia biography