Nationalist politician. Born in Glasgow and educated at Battlefield School and Queens Park Senior Secondary School, entering the University of Glasgow in 1948. Ewing practised law before spectacularly winning the Hamilton by-election to become the first female SNP Member of Parliament (1967-70), heralding a political break-through for the Scottish National Party. She went on to serve as the Member of Parliament for Moray and Nairn (1974-79), and then a Member of the European Parliament (1975-99) and of the Scottish Parliament (1999 - 2003). She served as President of the Scottish National Party (SNP) between 1987 and 2005.
Ewing was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Glasgow (1995), the University of Aberdeen (2004) and the University of Stirling (2012). She lived in Elgin. Her son Fergus and daughter Annabelle are both politicians, as was Fergus' wife Margaret Ewing (1945 - 2006). A memorial service was held at Inverness Cathedral, with contributions by Alex Salmond (b. 1954) and Humza Yousaf (b. 1985), and including Gaelics songs performed by Julie Fowlis (b. 1979).
