{"id":1175,"date":"2026-05-18T03:52:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T03:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/frauenrechtsgeschichte\/?p=1175"},"modified":"2026-05-18T03:52:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T03:52:31","slug":"regula-kaegi-diener-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dlf.uzh.ch\/sites\/frauenrechtsgeschichte\/en\/2026\/05\/18\/regula-kaegi-diener-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Regula K\u00e4gi-Diener"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cWe always saw ourselves as a household of women.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This striking statement by Regula K\u00e4gi-Diener not only reflects her family background but also forms a guiding thread throughout her life and work. Growing up in the Zurich lowlands in a culturally diverse and intellectually engaged family, together with one brother and three sisters, she developed an early awareness of female perspectives and the social distribution of gender roles. These experiences accompanied her throughout her life and shaped both her professional choices and her interest in questions of equality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her educational path first led her to a technically oriented secondary school, which was correspondingly dominated by male students. She encountered a similar situation during her subsequent law studies at the University of Zurich. As one of only a few women among numerous male fellow students, and without female role models among the professors, she found herself in an environment shaped by traditional structures. Nevertheless, she does not describe this period as burdensome, but rather as a phase in which the few women also received attention and were able to assert themselves. Her broad intellectual interests became apparent early on: alongside her law studies, she continued attending lectures in literature, linguistics, and other disciplines.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regula K\u00e4gi-Diener\u2019s professional career has been diverse and closely intertwined with the social developments of her time. She did not experience the introduction of women\u2019s suffrage in Switzerland in 1971 as a singular event, but rather as part of a longer process that she had already actively followed and discussed as a schoolgirl. Her career led her from university assistantships and positions in the courts to responsible roles in cantonal administrations, into legal practice, and later back into academia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Particularly formative was her growing interest in fundamental legal questions and in women\u2019s equality. During a period of social transformation shaped by the aftermath of the 1968 movement and the increasing visibility of feminist discourse, she began engaging more intensively with equality law and gender issues. This resulted not only in academic publications, but also in teaching activities and further studies in the field of Gender Studies. She became deeply involved in both non-profit and legal organizations, including Women Lawyers Switzerland and the Swiss Lawyers\u2019 Association (today the Swiss Society of Jurists), whose presidencies she assumed. From a humanistic perspective, she was thus able to promote professional exchange and actively contribute to the further development of legal and gender-equality discourse.<\/span><\/p>\n

The interview paints the portrait of a lawyer who pursued her path with perseverance and intellectual openness. Regula K\u00e4gi-Diener\u2019s life story stands as an example of a generation of women who asserted themselves within existing structures, questioned them, and gradually transformed them. Her story demonstrates how personal experiences, social change, and intellectual curiosity can intersect and lead to a reflective understanding of law and equality.<\/span><\/p>\n